VD Satheesan was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Kerala

Senior Congress leader VD Satheesan was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Kerala along with 20 ministers at a ceremony held on Monday (May 18, 2026) at a packed Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr. Satheesan and the nominated ministers during an hour-long ceremony that began around 10:15 am.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) registered a landslide victory over the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front in the April 9 assembly elections by winning 102 of the 140 seats in the State Assembly.

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Mr Satheesan, 61, who was Leader of the Opposition from 2021-2026, was the first to be sworn in. Mr. Arlekar read the oath which was repeated after him by Mr. Satheesan. The procedure was repeated with an oath of secrecy. Mr. Satheesan then signed the oaths in the books kept on the table. Afterwards, Mr. Arlekar presented a bouquet to Mr. Satheesan as the stadium was engulfed in cheers and slogans from the crowd. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi greeted the new chief minister with a hug.

The Chief Secretary then introduced the other nominated ministers individually. Mr. Arlekar administered oaths to them.

Mr. Satheesan was followed in the swearing in by Ministers nominated PK Kunhalikutty, Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph, K Muraleedharan, Mons Joseph, Shibu Baby John, Anoop Jacob, CP John, AP Anil Kumar, N Shamsudeen, PC Vishnunadh, Roji MPK John, BasheM, Shahna, M. Bindu Krishna Abdul Gafoor and T. Siddique, KA Thulasi and OJ Janeesh. All took the oath in Malayalam, except K. Muraleedharan, who took the oath in English.

All but Mr Shibu Baby John and CP John took the oath in the name of God. Shibu Baby John, who represents the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and CP John, the Communist Marxist Party (CMP), solemnly affirmed their commitment.

The Congress has 12 members in the cabinet including the Chief Minister. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has five ministers while Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Jacob), RSP and CMP have one each. Mr Satheesan, who succeeds CPI(M)’s Pinarayi Vijayan as Chief Minister, is also the 13th person to hold the post.

The Chief Minister’s and Ministers’ portfolios are expected to be released later today (Monday). Mr Satheesan said on Sunday (May 17) that the list would be handed over to the governor after the swearing-in ceremony and published through a gazette notification.

Huge crowds gathered at the Central Stadium from early morning to witness the action. Extensive measures, including traffic regulations, were in place in the state capital.

The ceremony started around 10:15 am and ended around 11:30 am with the recital of Vande Mataram followed by the National Anthem.

Among those who attended the event were Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the new general leader is Pinarayi Ker Oparies who became Pinarayi Ker Vija. KC Venugopal and Deepa Dasmunshi, BJP state president and MLA Rajeev Chandrasekhar and CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam.

After the May 4 election results were declared, the Congress party took ten days to elect Mr. Satheesan in place of Mr. Chennithala and AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal as Congress Legislature Party leader and CM candidate. After that, all attention shifted to assembling the cabinet. The discussions lasted until Sunday afternoon. Mr Satheesan presented the list of ministers to the Governor on Sunday (May 17) evening.

On Sunday (May 17, 2026), Mr Satheesan said the “complete cabinet” had been assembled at once for the first time in 60 years. The cabinet has two women and two ministers from scheduled caste communities. Mr. Satheesan also stated that the UDF government is committed to work towards building ‘Puthuyuga Keralam’.

Published – 18 May 2026 11:44 IST