Kerala CM-designate V D Satheesan will be taking oath tomorrow (May 18) along with 21 others at the the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. On Sunday, he met several the governor to hand in list of names for his cabinet.
Published: May 17, 2026 11:22 PM IST
Kerala chief minister-designate V D Satheesan revealed his 21-member Cabinet ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of the new government in the state on Monday. Addressing a press conference at the Cantonment House in Thiruvanathapuram, Satheesan stated that the oath-taking ceremony will take place at 10 am on Monday (May 18). This is after six decades that an entire United Democratic Front (Kerala) will take oath together in the state.
Who will take oath with Satheesan?
The cabinet ministers include Ramesh Chennithala, KPCC Chief Sunny Joseph, and K Muraleedharan. “Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan will be the Speaker and Shanymol Usman will be the Deputy Speaker,” Satheesan said, adding that the Deputy Speaker will be Shanimol Usman and the Chief whip will be Kerala Congress chief PJ Joseph.
“After 60 years, the full cabinet of UDF is going to be sworn in tomorrow at 10 am. Today 20 ministers list we have submitted to the Governor. Twenty-one ministers will be sworn in along with me,” Satheesan said. “We have discussed with the coalition partners, we have interacted with all Congress leaders within the party, and we are delighted to say that within 24 hours we have completed the entire process, this is the fastest in the history of Kerala. Because even after election, the team UDF is team UDF, leaders are respecting each other. Congress has 11 cabinet ministers.
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“We have 63 MLAs, some are more eligible than others, but unfortunately, we have to consider the social and regional balance and the representation of women and Dalit representation. We are not able to include all the eligible persons in the cabinet. We have included two members from the SC, two women are in the Cabinet, and one Deputy Speaker is a woman. We have done the maximum to accommodate…”
The full list of ministers that Satheesan handed over to the Governor includes Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph, K Muraleedharan, PC Vishnunadh, AP Anilkumar, Roji M John, T Siddique, Bindu Krishna, M Liju, OJ Janeesh, KA Thulasi, PK Kunhalikuty, PK Basheer, KM Shaji, N Shamsudheen, VE Abdul Gafoor, Mons Joseph, Shibu Baby John, CP John and Anoop Jacob.
Who will be present at the oath taking ceremony?
Satheesan said that Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Himachal Pradeh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivkumar and many ministers from the states will be attending tomorrow’s oath-taking ceremony.
“Of course, Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan and BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, CPI Secretary Binoy Viswam and IUML president Pannakad Sadikal, many UDF leaders, MPs and MLAs will also attend,” Satheesan said.
Asked about the participation of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay in tomorrow’s oath-taking ceremony, Satheesan said, “Till now there is no information that he will be coming.”
Allocation of portfolio
About allocation of portfolios, Satheesan said, “The allocation of departments has been almost finalised, with only a few minor corrections remaining. The decisions regarding the constituent parties have also been nearly completed. Usually, the list is submitted to the Governor after the swearing-in ceremony, and that will be done tomorrow. Following that, the government’s Gazette notification will be issued.”
Earlier today, IUML said that the League will have five ministers in the upcoming cabinet. Addressing a press conference in Panakkad hall in Thiruvanathapuram’s Palayam, the League announced that its MLAs PK Kunhalikutty, PK Basheer, N Shamsudheen, K M Shaji and Abdul Gafoor will be ministers.
Kuttiadi MLA Parakkal Abdulla will become a minister after two and a half years, and the League leadership will only later decide which minister will be replaced for Parakkal to enter the cabinet.
With inputs from ANI
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