V D Satheesan government finalises ministerial portfolio allocation; list handed over to Governor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The portfolio allocation in the government led by V D Satheesan has been finalised. The Chief Minister handed over the list of ministers and their departments to Governor Rajendra Arlekar. According to reports, Roji M John has been given the Higher Education portfolio, while M Liju has been assigned the Excise Department along with the Cooperation Department. The second cabinet meeting of the UDF government under V D Satheesan was held at 9 am today. The list was handed over to the Governor after the meeting.

The government had faced criticism for not issuing the official notification on ministerial portfolios even three days after assuming power. The Latin Church had demanded that the Fisheries Department, which was given to the Muslim League, should instead be handled by the Congress. In return, the League reportedly sought the Higher Education portfolio. However, both the Congress and the Latin Church opposed the move.

Meanwhile, K Muraleedharan had objected to giving the Health Department to A P Anil Kumar. Following the disagreement, the Health portfolio was reportedly reassigned to Muraleedharan. The Electricity Department, initially planned for Muraleedharan, was then offered to Anil Kumar, but he reportedly refused to accept it. This led to intervention from the faction led by K C Venugopal. Efforts were made to resolve the issue by additionally assigning the Devaswom Department, which was to go to Muraleedharan, to Anil Kumar. There were also discussions about giving the Youth Welfare and Sports portfolio to Muraleedharan instead.