Muslim 'appeasement' now a 'default' Mantra as IUML is in dictating terms...
and 'Dynastic flavour' of the Congress party's power polity
The Congress back in power in Kerala with old weaknesses and strengths
Few names --
Muraleedharan s/o former CM K Karunakaran
Shibu Baby John s/o former minister Baby John
Anoop Jacob s/o former minister T M Jacob
P K Basheer s/o former minister Seethi Haji
Abdul Gafoor s/o former minister Ibrahim Kunju
Ms K A Thulasi w/o P K Sreekandan, MP
The 52-year-old K A Thulasi
represents Kongad.
A first-time MLA, she emerged as one of the UDF’s biggest winners by wresting a long-standing CPI-M stronghold.
Her victory, alongside the growing influence of her husband and MP V K Sreekandan, has significantly altered the district’s political equations.
Her appointment as Backward Classes Development Minister is also seen as socially significant, given her roots in the backward community. Her rise reflects the UDF’s gains in Palakkad and the Congress leadership’s broader social balancing.
Muraleedharan was reporetedly among the senior leaders to back Satheesan, and his inclusion in the cabinet was almost certain. He reportedly sought the health portfolio.
Ramesh Chennithala, 69, is an important entrant.
Initially reluctant to join the Satheesan cabinet after he was denied the chief minister’s post. He shifted his stance on the intervention of the Congress high command, amid concerns over the political optics of his absence.
He secured the home and vigilance portfolios. Chennithala was Kerala’s youngest minister at 28 in the K Karunakaran cabinet (1986-87) and later served as home minister and Leader of the Opposition from 2016 and 2021.
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| Chennithala |
T Siddique
Considerations over Muslim representation within the Congress played a key role in the inclusion of Siddique. While Satheesan was understood to have favoured Shanimol Osman, and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala backed Anwar Sadath, the pressure from K C Venugopal for Siddique proved irresistible. Siddique representing Kalpetta, part of the
Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency being represented by Priyanka Gandhi.
A P Anil Kumar’s inclusion into the cabinet reflects K C Venugopal’s growing influence in the state Congress and the balancing of caste and regional equations in the UDF ministry.
A trusted Venugopal loyalist and a senior Scheduled Caste face in the party.
For Shibu Baby John and the RSP, the 2026 election was crucial to retaining political relevance within the UDF. His victory from Chavara, a constituency closely associated with his father Baby John, strengthened both his position and that of the party. A businessman and film producer, Shibu previously served as labour minister in the second Oommen Chandy government.
CM Sathhesan
C P John, is now the only 'communist minister' in India.
He quit CPI-M along with firebrand leader M V Raghavan. Former state president of SFI .
Won from Thiruvananthapuram constituency. It is the first time he is elected to the Assembly and has been made a Minister.
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On VD Satheesan taking oath as Keralam CM, BJP leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain says,
“In Kerala, a Muslim League Congress government is going to be formed…under Muslim League’s pressure Congress chose VD Satheesan…Congress will be in the government in name only, while the Muslim League will actually wield power… There is a lot of internal dispute in the newly formed govt. Muslim League has taken over important ministries because they want to exercise their agendas.”
On PM Modi getting Sweden's Royal Order of the Polar Star, he says, “…no other leader has received so many awards, I want to congratulate PM Modi and the people of India…many agreements have been signed between the two countries, India will benefit from it.”
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