Two Kerala ministers, including Transport Minister Antony Raju and Ports Minister Ahamed Devarkovil, submitted their resignations to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. KB Ganesh Kumar and Kadannappalli Ramachandran will be sworn in as new ministers. The swearing-in ceremony will be on December 29.
The resignations came as part of the cabinet reshuffle that was decided at the time of the formation of the second Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet, news agency ANI reported, citing sources.
Kerala's ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) on Sunday announced a cabinet reshuffle and said new ministers will take oath on December 29.
In May 2021, at the time when the second Left Democratic Front government came to power, partners in the CPI (M)-led alliance reached an understanding to allocate cabinet berths to four single-MLA parties on a "sharing the term" basis. The Left Democratic Front then decided to share the term, citing constitutional clauses that restrict the cabinet to 21 members.
Speaking to the media after submitting his resignation, Antony Raju said he was ready to resign in November but had to delay it due to the Nava Kerala Sadas.
"But maybe due to the Nava Kerala Sadas, the Chief Minister and the Left Democratic Front asked me to continue. Yesterday, it was the culmination of Nava Kerala Sadas, and I got the opportunity to preside over the historic event," Antony Raju said, as quoted by PTI.
He also said that he was happy to resign as Transport Minister after clearing all the salary dues to the KSRTC staff. Devarkovil stated that he was fully satisfied with his role as a minister for the past two and a-half years, PTI reported.