CPI(M) secretariat to finalise allocation of Cabinet portfolios ahead of swearing-in

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to have a decisive say in the matter.

May 19, 2021 10:01 am | Updated 10:06 am IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Pinarayi Vijayan. File.

Pinarayi Vijayan. File.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretariat will convene in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday to settle the allocation of cabinet portfolios to Kerala’s Minister-designates.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would have a decisive say in the matter. The CPI(M) State committee had tasked him with dividing the 21 cabinet posts among the party’s ministerial candidates and Left Democratic Front (LDF) allies.

As a prelude to cabinet formation, Mr. Vijayan had met Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan on Tuesday evening and handed over the letter appointing Mr. Vijayan as parliamentary party leader of the CPI(M). The CPI(M) is the single largest party in the next Assembly with 62 legislators.

The CPI(M) had staked a claim on 12 cabinet posts. It had nominated M. V. Govindan, K. Radhakrishnan, K. N. Balagopal, P. Rajiv, V. N. Vasavan, Saji Cherian and V. Sivankutty, DYFI national president Muhammad Riaz, former Thrissur Mayor R. Bindu and Veena George as Minister-designates. M. B. Rajesh is the party’s Speaker candidate.

With swearing-in scheduled for Thursday, political theorising on who would land key portfolios is raging in Kerala.

By some accounts, Mr. Govindan and Mr. Radhakrishnan, both CPI(M) central committee members, are likely to rank high in the cabinet hierarchy and assume charge of important departments.

A clear picture of the assignments would emerge later in the day, said a CPI(M) insider, refusing to speculate. The CM is likely to hold Home, General Administration, Vigilance and Distress Relief, among other portfolios, he said.

He said the CPI(M) would have to give up a few departments it held in 2016 to accommodate the new allies. However, the party was likely to retain Industries, Law, Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Welfare, General Education, Devaswom, Cooperation, Tourism, Electricity, Excise, Labour, Public Works and Health, among other portfolios.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has reportedly staked a claim for Agriculture, Revenue, Food and Civil Supplies, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, Housing and Registration departments, among other allied portfolios. G.R. Anil, P. Prasad, K. Rajan and Chinchu Rani are the party’s Minister-designates. The CPI has nominated Chittayam Gopakumar as its Deputy Speaker candidate.

The CPI(M) would also decide the portfolios of other LDF allies, namely the Kerala Congress (M), Democratic Kerala Congress (DKC), Indian National League, Janata Dal (Secular) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Kerala Congress (B) legislator K.B. Ganesh Kumar and Congress (S) MLA Kadanapally Ramachandran would enter the cabinet only in the second half of its term.

The LDF had urged single-member parties to hold a cabinet rank for 2.5 years and concede the remaining term to another single-member ally.

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