The victorious Left Democratic Front (LDF) has gone into a series of huddles with majority partner CPI(M) and coalition partners on formation of the new government with swearing-in tentatively fixed for May 18.

Acting CPI(M) State Secretary A Vijayaraghavan said here that the LDF will hold a meeting on May 17 to discuss the ministry formation. Both the Party Secretariat and the State Committee will meet the next day to approve the list of members of the new Cabinet before swearing-in takes place towards the evening.

Likely simple function

The swearing-in is expected to take place at a simple function within the Raj Bhavan with attendance limited to the least minimum given the Covid-19 spread across the State, sources said.

By all available indications, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who won a historic second term for the LDF will continue to helm the next government. This is despite Vijayan himself having dismissed the possibility ‘as a conjecture at best’ while interacting with newspersons on Monday.

Cabinet with new faces

He went on to suggest to newspersons in a lighter vein that ‘now is your time to speculate’ when asked how many new faces were likely to figure in the new Cabinet. According to sources, an entirely new team of fresh and young faces are being considered this time round.

The rare exception could be KK Shailaja, erstwhile Health Minister, who has also won with the highest margin of 61,000-plus votes in this year’s elections from Mattannur in Kannur district. Among the new entrants would P Rajeev (Kalamassery), an ex-Rajya Sabha member noted for his performance in the Upper House.

Others include former Speaker K Radhakrishnan, but it is yet to be known if some of the members of the outgoing Cabinet, including MM Mani (Electricity); Kadakampally Surendran (Temple Administration); and TP Ramakrishnan would return for reasons ranging from advanced age to weak health.

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