In a major re-shuffle, chief minister Oommen Chandy on Thursday reallocated the portfolios of Congress ministers.
Chandy, who was looking after the Home portfolio, allotted it to Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, his close aid and revenue minister, who belongs to the Nair community.
Revenue is now with Adoor Prakash and health was given to VS Shivakumar. Power minister Aryadan Mohammed will hold the additional charge of the transport department , which was earlier handled by Shivakumar.
On Thursday, Anoop Jacob of the Kerala Congress (Jacob faction) and Manjalamkuzhi Ali of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) were sworn in as ministers. Ali was given urban affairs and minority welfare while Anoop got food and civil supplies, earlier handled by his father, TM Jacob.
The Congress has a very thin majority in the state assembly. IUML has 20 legislators and had been demanding five berths in the Cabinet for a long time. Panakkat Hyder Ali Shihab Thangal, the supremo, had unilaterally named Manjalamkuzhi Ali as the fifth minister of the party.
The Congress, which resisted this stating the number of minority community representatives (Muslims and Christians) in the cabinet would be 12 if another Muslim minister was included, finally gave in. The Hindu community, which is around 65 per cent of the population of the state, has nine representatives.
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Two major Hindu organisations — Nair Service Society (NSS) and Sree Narayana Dharmaparipalana Yogam — too opposed this.
Giving the coveted Home department to a leader from the Nair community is seen a move to pacify the majority community. Earlier, Radhakrishnan was made in charge of Vigilance, following a court order for continued investigation against Chandy in the palmolein import case.
Speaking to reporters after the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Chandy said he had reallocated the portfolios after consulting the Congress high command. This was not indented to appease any community, he added.
NSS general secretary Sukumaran Nair strongly criticised the Congress move and said it would reflect in the byelections to the Neyyattinkara assembly segment. SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappilly Natesan also criticised the inclusion of Ali in the Cabinet.