Second Pinarayi Govt to have 21 ministers, 12 from CPM, CM to decide on portfolios of ministers

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM acting state secretary and Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener A Vijayaraghavan on Monday said the government will have a 21-member cabinet. He added that the swearing-in ceremony will be conducted on May 20 with a limited number of people in view of the Covid-19 situation in the state.

Speaking to media persons after the LDF meet to decide on cabinet berths, Vijayaraghavan said that CPM would have 12 ministerial berths while four have been given to CPI and one each for Kerala Congress (M), Janata Dal (S) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

"The remaining two ministerial posts will be shared between other allies on an alternate basis, the first two and half years with Janadhipatya Kerala Congress and Indian National League after which Kerala Congress (B) and Congress (S) takes possession of the chair respectively. CPM will hold speaker post, CPI will be given deputy speaker post and chief whip post to Kerala Congress (M)," he added.

He said the LDF has entrusted chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to decide the portfolios of the ministers.

Left Democratic Front will meet and decide the parliamentary committee head tomorrow and then will meet the Governor, he said.

The CPM-led LDF retained power in Kerala by winning 99 seats against 41 seats of Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the assembly polls. BJP could not win any seat.

The LDF meeting thanked the people for their help in the victory. The meet also decided to ensure representation of all sections in the cabinet. The Left Front meeting, which convened for the first time after the assembly election victory shared the joy by cutting a cake.

The LDF meet decided to induct Ahmed Devarkovil of the INL and Antony Raju of the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress as ministers in the first term. Kerala Congress (B) leader Ganesh Kumar and Congress (S) leader Kadannapally Ramachandran will be ministers in the second term.

The Kerala Congress Mani faction will get a ministerial berth and the chief whip post. Jose K Mani said that he had asked for two ministers and as there are more constituent parties accepted the decision after looking at the unity of the front. He said a decision regarding the minister of the KC (M) will be taken soon. Roshy Augustine from KC (M) is likely to become a minister. Jayaraj will get the chief whip post.

Antony Raju said that the ministerial post is a great recognition for the Janadhipathya Kerala Congress. The minister from NCP will be announced tomorrow. The announcement will be made after Praful Patel arrives tomorrow and holds discussions with the leadership. Deve Gowda will announce the JD (S) minister. K Krishnankutty and Mathew T Thomas are the two MLAs of the party.

Chief Minister's son-in-law P A Mohammad Riyaz has also found a place in the list of CPM ministers. V Sivankutty, Veena George, K N Balagopal, V N Vasavan, Saji Cherian, P Rajeev, M B Rajesh, K Radhakrishnan, P Nanda Kumar and M V Govindan are in the probable list. Further decisions will be taken at the CPM state secretariat and the CPI leadership meet convened tomorrow.