Chandy expands Cabinet

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today expanded his Cabinet, inducting 15 more ministers combining experience and young blood, in a bid to revive the fortunes of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government ahead of the next state assembly elections in less than two years.

Despite a 'boycott' by senior leader K Karunakaran and his son Muraleedharan, irked by the rejection of their proposals in the selection of ministers, a jubilant mood pervaded the Raj Bhavan with UDF supporters from different parts of the state joining the leaders of the Congress and its coalition partners.

Having installed the 20-member ministry, Chandy chose to keep the portfolios of home, non-resident Keralite affairs and information, allocating finance and excise to senior party colleague V Purushothaman and electricity to Aryadan Mohammed.

UDF partners Muslim League, Kerala Congress-M, Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samiti (JSS), RSP-B and CMP retained the portfolios that they held in the Antony ministry.

The Muslim League, however, changed two of its four nominees. The Congress got two additional cabinet berths with the exclusion of the members of the KC-B and KC-J parties from the ministry.

Other portfolios held by the Congress included food and civil supplies (Adoor Prakash), health (KK Ramachandran), water resources (Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan), forests (KP Viswanathan), tourism (KC Venugopal), fisheries, sports (Dominic Presentation), transport (N Sakthan) and backward classes and SC/ST welfare (AP Anil Kumar).

Despite resistance from a section of the Congress, the IUML was allocated the key portfolio of education, but it brought in the party's senior leader ET Mohammed Basheer for the post, replacing Nalakath Soopy.

The League also changed its nominee for the local self-governance ministry, bringing in Kutty Ahamed Kutty in place of Cherkalam Abdulla, while the party's leader in the house PK Kunhalikutty, retained industries and MK Muneer retained public works.

Kerala Congress-M leader KM Mani will continue to hold the revenue and law portfolio, while his colleague CF Thomas will continue in the rural development ministry.

RSP-B's Babu Divakaran is back in charge of labour. JSS leader KR Gowri retained agriculture and the CMP's MV Raghavan the co-operation and ports portfolios in the new ministry.