Kerala: Pinarayi govt 2.0 to have 21 ministers

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) will form a 21-member cabinet in Kerala, said LDF Convenor A. Vijayaraghavan on Monday. A decision on portfolio allocation has been left to the chief minister.

The CPI(M) will have 12 ministers and the CPI will have four berths. The Kerala Congress (M), Janata Dal (S) and Nationalist Congress Party will have one minister each. AC Moideen and KK Shailaja are the only ministers likely to continue from the first Pinarayi ministry.

Two cabinet berths will be shared by four allies on a rotation basis, with each of them getting 2.5 years. Ramachandran Kadannappally (Congress-S), Antony Raju (Janadhipathya Kerala Congress), K B Ganesh Kumar (Kerala CongressB) and Ahammad Devekovil (Indian National League) will share the two cabinet berths.

Kerala Congress (M), which demanded two cabinet seats, has also been offered the post of the Chief Whip with cabinet rank.

The LDF is sharing cabinet berths for the first time. CPI(M) leaders said the precedent was set to accommodate as many possible allies in the cabinet, since 11 parties now constitute the front.

The speaker will be from CPI(M) and deputy speaker will be from the CPI. A meeting of the Kerala Congress (M) chaired by Jose K. Mani selected Roshy Augustine as their parliamentary party leader. Though no official announcement has been made, he is most likely to be given the cabinet berth allotted to the party. N. Jayaraj is likely to be given the cabinet rank post of chief whip.

The NCP will decide its ministerial candidate on Tuesday. Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda will announce the minister from JD(S).

PA Muhammad Riyas, V Sivankutty, Veena George, KN Balagopal, VN Vasavan, Saji Cherian, P Rajeev, K Radhakrishnan, P Nandakumar, MV Govindan are among the probable ministers from CPM camp according to Manorama News reports.

The CPI leadership is expected to hold a meeting and decide its ministers on Tuesday.