Satheesan appoints 20 ministers; The Kerala Cabinet will be sworn in on May 18

Chief Minister-designate VD Satheesan during a press conference announcing the names of cabinet ministers at Cantonment House in Thiruvananthapuram on May 17, 2026. Photo: Special Arrangements

A day before his swearing-in ceremony, Kerala Chief Minister-designate VD Satheesan unveiled the 20-member Council of Ministers of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government on Sunday (May 17, 2026).

The Congress will have 11 ministers in the cabinet – Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph, K. Muraleedharan, AP Anil Kumar, PC Vishnunadh, T. Siddique, Bindu Krishna, KA Thulasi, Roji M. John, M. Liju and OJ Janeesh.

Also read | IUML will win five seats in the UDF government in Kerala

Five Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) MLAs – PK Kunhalikutty, N Shamsudeen, KM Shaji, PK Basheer and VE Abdul Gafoor – will be sworn in as ministers. Mons Joseph of the Kerala Congress (Joseph), Shibu Baby John of the Revolutionary Socialist Party, Anoop Jacob of the Kerala Congress (Jacob) and CP John of the Communist Marxist Party are the nominated ministers from the other coalition partners in the UDF.

The Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly will be Congress President Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan and Congress Deputy Speaker Shanimol Usman, Mr. Satheesan said.

The IUML said its MLA Parakkal Abdulla would replace one of the party’s ministers after two-and-a-half years to represent Kozhikode district in the cabinet.

Mr. Satheesan read out the names of the appointed ministers after calling on Governor Rajendra Arlekar to forward the list of ministers at the Lok Bhavan on Sunday evening.

In a press conference, Mr. Satheesan said that the portfolio allocation is being finalised. Details will be communicated to the governor after Monday’s swearing-in ceremony and will be published through the Government Gazette.

Mr Satheesan said the “complete cabinet” would be assembled together for the first time in 60 years. He pointed out that the cabinet has two women and two ministers from Scheduled Caste communities.

“We are very pleased 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 elections, the UDF team remained a UDF team,” he said. Of the 63 Congress MLAs in the 102-member UDF contingent in the State Assembly, many eligible names could not get the ministerial berth 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 president PJ Joseph. informed Mr. Satheesan.

Extensive arrangements have been made for the swearing-in ceremony scheduled at 10 am at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, where the Governor will administer oath 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 DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister Revant Reddy, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Pinarayi Vijayan (new state MLA Rajev Opposition and B. Chandrasekhar and CPI State Secretary Binoy Viswam will attend the event, Mr. Satheesan said.

The next chief minister of Kerala, who described himself as a “Nehruvian socialist”, said the UDF government would work to create “Puthuyuga Keralam”.

Published – 17 May 2026 21:13 IST