Thiruvanchoor gets forest, transport in Chandy's Cabinet

Ramesh Chennithala sworn in as new home minister

Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan was on Wednesday shifted from home and allotted forests, transport, sports and Cinema as his new portfolios while Pradesh Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala was sworn in as new home minister.

This is the second term for Chennithala as a minister after a long gap of 27 years. He was a minister in the K Karunakaran's ministry when he was 29 years old. He was also a member of Parliament for four consecutive terms.

Earlier, it was indicated chief minister Oommen Chandy planned to give Vigilance department, which is a part of home ministry, to Thiruvanchoor. However, it was turned down against a strong resistance from the I-faction in the Congress.

With the latest move, the feud in the Congress is likely intensify as the A-faction led by Chandy is unhappy over the induction of Chennithala into the Cabinet as home minister. The move is a blow to the A-faction, especially to Chandy, as he had been resisting the inclusion of Chennithala into the Cabinet for the last one year.

Meanwhile, R Balakrishna Pillai, a veteran leader of the UDF and chairman of Kerala Congress (Pillai faction), is also unhappy over this new turn as his demand for the re-inclusion of KB Ganesh Kumar into the ministry was turned down by the chief minister and the UDF leadership.

Moreover, the portfolios held earlier by Ganesh, viz forests, sports and cinema, have now been given to Thiruvanchoor. Pillai has criticised Chandy and the UDF leadership on local TV channels, creating fresh troubles to Chandy's ministry. Pillai, who has the backing of the Nair Service Society (NSS), is a crucial factor in the Lok Sabha constituencies in central Travancore.

Solar scam-accused
Meanwhile, mother of Saritha, the No 2 accused in the Solar Power scam, on Tuesday, stated on a local channel that some of the leaders of UDF did not want to get a bail for her daughter. She said Saritha had decided to reveal all the details and involvement of ministers in the scam before the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate, but had gone back because of the request from a top leader of the UDF, who is a former minister. She even threatened to reveal the conspiracy behind the scam and the sexual involvement of a number of UDF leaders with her daughter.