Satheesan names 20 Ministers; Kerala Cabinet to take oath on May 18

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Updated - May 17, 2026 09:22 pm IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Chief Minister-designate V.D. Satheesan during a press conference announcing names of Cabinet Ministers at Cantonment House, in Thiruvananthapuram on May 17, 2026. Photo: Special Arrangement A day before of his swearing-in ceremony, Kerala’s Chief Minister-designate V.D. Satheesan on Sunday (May 17, 2026) unveiled the 20-member Council of Ministers of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government. Congress will have 11 Ministers in the Cabinet – Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph, K. Muraleedharan, A.P. Anil Kumar, P.C. Vishnunadh, T. Siddique, Bindu Krishna, K.A. Thulasi, Roji M. John, M. Liju and O.J. Janeesh. Also read | IUML to get five Cabinet posts in UDF government in Kerala Five Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLAs — P.K. Kunhalikutty, N. Shamsudeen, K.M. Shaji, P.K. Basheer and V.E. Abdul Gafoor – will be sworn in as Ministers. Mons Joseph from Kerala Congress (Joseph), Shibu Baby John of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, Anoop Jacob from Kerala Congress (Jacob) and C.P. John of the Communist Marxist Party are the Ministers-designate from the other coalition partners in the UDF. Senior Congress leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan will be the Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly and Congress leader Shanimol Usman will be the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Satheesan said. The IUML said its MLA Parakkal Abdulla will replace one of the party’s Ministers after two-and-a-half years so that Kozhikode district gets represented in the Cabinet. Mr. Satheesan read out the names of the Ministers-designate after calling on Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan on Sunday evening to hand over the list of Ministers. Addressing a press conference, Mr. Satheesan said portfolio allocation is being given final touches. The details will be shared with the Governor after Monday’s swearing-in ceremony and will be published through a government gazette. Mr. Satheesan said a “complete Cabinet” will be sworn in together for the first time in 60 years. He pointed out that the Cabinet has two women and two Ministers from the Scheduled Caste communities. “We are very much delighted to say that we have completed the process within 24 hours. It is the fastest in the history of Kerala. This is because after the election, team UDF has remained team UDF,” he said. Of the 63 Congress MLAs in the 102-strong UDF contingent in the State Assembly, many eligible names could not be given Ministerial berths as the party had to consider social and regional equations, he said. Apu John Joseph will be the Chief Whip of the UDF government, Kerala Congress chairman P.J. Joseph. informed Mr. Satheesan. Extensive arrangements have been made for the swearing-in ceremony scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram where the Governor will administer the oath of office to Mr. Satheesan and his Cabinet. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revant Reddy, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Pinarayi Vijayan (who will be Kerala’s new Opposition leader), BJP State president and MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar and CPI State secretary Binoy Viswam will attend the function, Mr. Satheesan said. Describing himself as a “Nehruvian socialist”, Kerala’s next Chief Minister said the UDF government will work towards creating a “Puthuyuga Keralam.” Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle

Satheesan names 20 Ministers; Kerala Cabinet to take oath on May 18

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Satheesan names 20 Ministers; Kerala Cabinet to take oath on May 18

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