Keralam CM VD Satheesan meets Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi on visit to Delhi
New Delhi, May 23
Keralam CM VD Satheesan met with Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi on Saturday as a part of his first visit since assuming office.
The Keralam CM earlier met with Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge and Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal.
Congress leader VD Satheesan was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Keralam on Monday, officially bringing the Congress-led UDF back to power after a ten-year hiatus, following their landslide victory in the 2026 Assembly elections.
The ceremony saw a massive turnout of top political heavyweights, signalling the national significance of the UDF's victory. The event was attended by: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, MP Priyanka Gandhi, and General Secretary KC Venugopal.It included Congress Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers like Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), alongside Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh).
Former Keralam CM Pinarayi Vijayan, former Assembly Speaker AN Shamsheer, Keralam BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and CPI leader Binoy Viswam also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Alongside Satheesan, a 20-member Cabinet took the oath. Satheesan noted that government formation was completed in under 24 hours, the fastest in Kerala's history, while carefully managing regional and social demographics.
"We have discussed with the coalition partners... and within 24 hours, we have completed the entire process," Satheesan said.
"We have to consider the social and regional balance and the representation of women and Dalit representation... We have included two members from the SC, and women's representation has been ensured," he added.
His 20-member Cabinet was also sworn in, including senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan and KPCC chief Sunny Joseph, along with Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leaders PK Kunhalikutty, PK Basheer, N Samsudheen, KM Shaji and VE Abdul Gafoor.
Other ministers, including Mons Joseph, Shibu Baby John, Anoop Jacob, CP John, AP Anil Kumar, T Siddique, PC Vishnunath, Roji M John, Bindu Krishna, M Liju, KA Thulasi and O J Janeesh, also took the oath.
The swearing-in ceremony comes after the UDF secured a decisive mandate in the 2026 Keralam Assembly elections, ending the Left Democratic Front's (LDF) 10-year rule in the state.
Satheesan won the 2026 Assembly election from the Paravur constituency, securing his sixth consecutive term as an MLA.
Satheesan secured 78,658 votes and defeated CPI candidate ET Taison Master by a margin of 20,600 votes. He has represented the Paravur constituency for 25 years, having first won the seat in 2001.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Great to see the Congress leadership giving importance to Kerala's new CM. Meeting Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and Priyanka together shows they want to project Kerala as a model for Congress governance. But I hope they don't forget their promises on development and transparency. People have high expectations after this historic win.
The cabinet composition is interesting - two SC members and women representation shows they learned from past mistakes. Including IUML leaders maintains the UDF coalition balance. Let's see if they can actually deliver on the "social democracy" they keep talking about. Actions speak louder than photo ops with Delhi leaders.
Interesting to see the national leaders attending a state swearing-in. Shows the Congress is trying to build momentum after Karnataka and Telangana wins. But all these meetings in Delhi won't matter if they don't fix Kerala's real issues - the gold smuggling cases and financial mess left by the LDF. People are watching closely.
"Keralam CM" - I like the Malayalam touch! 😊 But seriously, the speed of government formation is impressive. Within 24 hours they had a 20-member cabinet with proper regional balance. Compare this to some other states where it takes weeks. Hope Satheesan can maintain this efficiency in governance too. The real test begins now.
Respect to all leaders attending the ceremony - shows democracy is alive and well in Kerala. But we need to be critical too: including 20 ministers seems excessive for a state with financial troubles. Why not start with a leaner cabinet? Also, the old guard like Chennithala and Kunhalikutty being back doesn't inspire much confidence
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.