As the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today announced his cabinet ministers, the CPI(M) leader dropped one of the most important and powerful minister K K Shailaja from the list of newly elected ministers for cabinet. His move to drop the former Health Minister's name for the list sparked controversy, however Miss Shailaja herself is not disappointed with the decision, instead she backed the CM's decision.
She said, "Everyone worked hard in their depts. But it doesn't mean that only I should continue. There are so many other people like me, they can also work hard. It's very good decision."
Further she said, "It's a historic victory. LDF has come in power again, earlier there used to be alternate govts of LDF and UDF. It's a good sign." "We can make so many changes in society and I think the coming LDF govt also will work for the changes in society," she added.
Days after leading the ruling LDF to a stupendous electoral victory, CPI (M) veteran Pinarayi Vijayan was today elected its Parliamentary Party Leader for a second term as Chief Minister but the omission of 'rockstar' health minister KK Shailaja from the new cabinet sparked a debate. All the sitting ministers in the last tenure were dropped today and new faces were picked for the cabinet ministry.
Having won international accolades for her deft handling of the first wave of Covid-19 in Kerala after it reported India's first case in 2020, Shailaja's surprise omission drew instant comparisons with the late KR Gowri Amma, the firebrand Marxist who was once tipped to head the state but never did.
However, Shailaja, described as a "rockstar health minister" by section of international media, said she was not disappointed at being denied berth in the new cabinet.
The ministers from CPI(M) in the new Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet include MV Govindan, K Radhakrishnan, KN Balagopal, P Rajeev, VN Vasavan, Saji Cherian, V Sivankutty, Mohammad Riyas, Dr R Bindu, Veena George and V Abdul Rahman. Interestingly, Riyas is the son-in-law of the Chief Minister. The party has selected MB Rajesh as Speaker candidate and TP Ramakrishnan has been appointed as the Parliamentary Party Secretary
Vijayan had scripted history in the April 6 Assembly polls by leading the Left front to a consecutive term, bucking the over four-decade-old trend in the state of the people choosing between Communists and Congress-led governments alternately.
