Congress leader VD Satheesan on Monday took oath as the chief minister of Kerala, taking helm of the state’s United Democratic Front government.Satheesan was sworn in 14 days after the Assembly election results were announced on May 4. The party named him as the next chief minister on Thursday. The decision came after a reported deadlock in consultations between the Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi and chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and the party’s Kerala-based leaders.Congress leader VD Satheesan takes oath as Chief Minister of Keralam at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram pic.twitter.com/I7zrNz5hyK— ANI (@ANI) May 18, 2026
The Congress-led United Democratic Front won 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly on May 4, defeating the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front after a decade in Opposition. The Congress won 63 seats. The majority mark is 70.Satheesan, a six-time MLA, had defeated the Communist Party of India’s ET Taison in the Paravur constituency by a margin of 20,600 votes.On Monday, the UDF Cabinet was also sworn in, along with Satheesan.The Cabinet comprises 12 ministers from the Congress, including Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph, K Muraleedharan and Bindu Krishna. Five ministers are from the Indian Union Muslim League and one each from the Kerala Congress (Joseph), the Kerala Congress (Jacob), the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Communist Marxist Party.Apart from Chennithala, Sunny Joseph, Muraleedharan and Krishna, those who took the oath are PK Kunhalikutty, Mons Joseph, Shibu Baby John, Anoop Jacob, CP John, AP Anil Kumar, N Shamsudeen, PC Vishnunadh, Roji M John, Bindu Krishna, M Liju, KM Shaji, PK Basheer, VE Abdul Gafoor, T Siddique, KA Thulasi and OJ Janeesh. Written by Leah Thomas. Edited by Sneha.
