Swearing-in ceremony will not take place on Monday, ministers will be decided after Tuesday; all constituent parties will be given ministerial posts

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After recording a thumping victory in the assembly elections, the LDF has begun the discussion regarding the cabinet formation. The final decision regarding the members of the second Pinarayi cabinet will be made within 4 days. Most of the central committee members and state secretariat members who contested from the CPM will be in the cabinet. It is learnt that the Left Front has decided to give ministerial posts to all the constituent parties.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who will arrive in the capital tomorrow, will hand over his resignation letter to the governor. With that, the current ministry will continue to be the caretaker ministry. The CPM state secretariat, which will meet on Tuesday, will decide the date of the state committee and Left Front meetings. Later, the Left Front constituent parties will meet at a parliamentary party meeting to decide the ministers. The Left Front will then write a letter to the governor demanding the formation of a government.

The current cabinet has 20 ministers. Of these, 13 are from the CPM, four from CPI, one each from JDS, NCP, and Kerala Congress (S). This time, This time Kerala Congress (M) and LJD have come to the front. The Janadhipathya Kerala Congress and the Kerala Congress (B) will also be vying for the ministerial post. The number of ministers will have to be increased or the CPM and CPI will have to compromise on the number of ministers. Central committee members KK Shailaja, MV Govindan, and K Radhakrishnan and secretariat members TP Ramakrishnan, MM Mani, P Rajeev, and KN Balagopal are likely to become ministers.

It is to be seen whether the LDF will offer a second term to Kadakampally Surendran from Thiruvananthapuram. Meanwhile, sources said that the leadership is also considering the names of V Sivankutty from Nemom and VK Prasanth from Vattiyoorkavu for the ministerial post. With minister Mercykutty Amma suffering a defeat in the election, the CPM might name Veena George as the second woman minister of the party. If K Radhakrishnan becomes a minister, AC Moideen will not be able to make it to the ministry. Saji Cherian from the Alappuzha district and VN Vasavan from the Kottayam district are likely to become ministers. MB Rajesh, who won from Thrithala is likely to be offered a ministerial post. In the CPI, E Chandrasekaran, P Prasad, K Rajan, and J Chinchurani are likely to become ministers. Although Roshy Augustine of Kerala Congress (M) has seniority, the position of Jose K Mani will be decisive.