Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala has confirmed that he will take charge of the Home portfolio in the newly formed Kerala government led by Chief Minister V. D. Satheesan. The announcement came just hours before the swearing-in ceremony of the new UDF government in Thiruvananthapuram.
According to reports, Chennithala said the incoming government would focus strongly on governance, law and order, and implementing the major guarantees announced by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Kerala Assembly election campaign.
The development is politically significant because Chennithala had earlier emerged as one of the strongest contenders for the Chief Minister’s post before the Congress high command selected Satheesan after nearly 10 days of intense internal discussions and lobbying.
Sources within the Congress indicated that assigning the powerful Home portfolio to Chennithala was also seen as part of efforts to balance internal party dynamics and accommodate senior leaders within the new cabinet.
The new 21-member UDF ministry, led by Satheesan, officially took oath at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram in the presence of senior Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Mallikarjun Kharge.
Chennithala is considered one of Kerala Congress’s most experienced administrators and had previously served as Kerala’s Home Minister between 2014 and 2016 during the Oommen Chandy government.
Political observers say the decision to hand over the Home portfolio to Chennithala reflects the Congress leadership’s attempt to combine Satheesan’s new-generation leadership image with the administrative experience of senior leaders.
The Satheesan-led cabinet includes several first-time ministers along with experienced Congress and UDF alliance leaders, marking the coalition’s return to power in Kerala after a decade.
