Thiruvananthapuram : Senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph and K Muraleedharan on Monday took oath as ministers in the new V D Satheesan-led Keralam government, as the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) formally returned to power in the state after a decade.
Chennithala, who was among the frontrunners for the Chief Minister's post before the Congress high command picked VD Satheesan as leader of the legislature party, took oath after Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader PK Kunhalikutty, who was the first minister to be sworn in after Satheesan.
Keralam Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office to Satheesan and his 20-member Council of Ministers at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Senior alliance leaders Mons Joseph from Kerala Congress and Shibu Baby John of the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), both constituents of the UDF alliance, also took oath as ministers.
The swearing-in ceremony marked a major political shift in the state, with the UDF returning to power after defeating the Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the 2026 Assembly elections. Several top Congress leaders attended the ceremony, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.
Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers from Congress-ruled states, including Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, were also present.
Former Keralam Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Assembly Speaker AN Shamsheer, Keralam BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and CPI leader Binoy Viswam also attended the ceremony. Apart from Chennithala, Sunny Joseph and Muraleedharan, the new Cabinet includes IUML leaders PK Basheer, N Samsudheen, KM Shaji and VE Abdul Gafoor, along with Anoop Jacob, CP John, AP Anil Kumar, T Siddique, PC Vishnunath, Roji M John, Bindu Krishna, M Liju, KA Thulasi and O J Janeesh.
Earlier, Satheesan had said that social and regional balance, along with representation for women and the Scheduled Castes, were key considerations in the Cabinet formation. The UDF registered a landslide victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, winning 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly. The Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 63 seats, while the IUML won 22 seats. The LDF was reduced to 35 seats, while the BJP secured three constituencies.