O R Kelu sworn as minister in second Pinarayi Govt; takes oath solemnly

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: O R Kelu MLA from Mananthavady was on Sunday sworn in as minister in the second Pinarayi Government. Governor Arif Mohammad Khan administered the oath of office to Kelu at a simple function held at the Raj Bhavan at 4 pm. He took the oath solemnly. He was sworn in as Minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

He is replacing K Radhakrishnan who has been elected to the Lok Sabha. All the portfolios handled by Radhakrishnan have not been given to Kelu. Devaswom has been given to Minister V N Vasavan and parliamentary affairs to M B Rajesh. CPM sources said Kelu was not given these portfolios as he is a fresher. Meantime, the decision to divest devaswom and parliamentary affairs from Kelu has come in for strong criticism from various quarters.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, other cabinet members, opposition leader V D Satheesan, Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty and many others attended the function.

Kelu is the first CPM Minister in the history of Wayanad. A member of the Kurichya community, Kelu is also the first Scheduled Tribe leader to reach the CPM state committee.

He is also the chairman of the Legislative Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Scheduled Tribes. He is also the state president of Adivasi Kshema Samithi, the tribal body of the party. In the 2016 assembly elections, he defeated the then minister P K Jayalakshmi and became the MLA of Mananthavady, a reserved constituency. He also won in 2021.

Kelu entered parliamentary politics in 2000 as a grama panchayat member from Edayoorkunnu ward of Thirunelli grama panchayat. He then became the president of Thirunelli grama panchayat for 10 years in 2005 and 2010. Later in 2015, he became a member of Mananthavady Block Panchayat from Thirunelli division.

His wife is P K Santha and daughters Mithuna C K (beat forest officer, Begur range) and C K Bhavana (student).