Congress leader Oommen Chandy will be sworn in as the chief minister here on Wednesday along with the ministers of UDF coalition partners.
Mr Chandy, who was unanimously elected as the UDF Legislature Party leader at a meeting in the Cantonment House here on Sunday evening, later met governor R.S. Gavai and briefed him. He also handed over the letter of support from the alliance partners to the governor.
The UDF leaders expected to be sworn in along with Mr Chandy on Wednesday are P.K. Kunhalikutty (Muslim League), K.M. Mani (Kerala Congress M), K.P. Mohanan (Janata Dal Socialist), T.M. Jacob (Kerala Congress Jacob), K.B. Ganesh Kumar (Kerala Congress B) and Shibu Baby John (RSP-B).
UDF convenor P.P.Thankachcan, told mediapersons that the ministerial berths for each coalition partner would be decided at their leadership meeting.
“Legislature Party meetings of the coalition partners are scheduled to be held over the next two days and the nominees would be decided by the respective parties at these meetings,” he added.
The convenor said the UDF ministry would comprise of 21 members and that was the maximum number allowed in view of the 15 per cent norm.
On the outgoing chief minister, V.S. Achuthanandan’s demand to keep out leaders facing allegations of corruption and sex abuse, Mr Thankachan shot back, “We don’t go by what Mr Achuthanandan says.”
Mr Thankachan sought to allay fears expressed about the stability of the UDF government in view of the slender margin. He said C. Achutha Menon ruled the state for six years with a majority of just three MLAs.
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Rangasamy meets gov, stakes claim
S. Prasad
Puducherry
May 15: Former Puducherry chief minister N. Rangasamy, who took revenge on the Congress for unseating him in 2008 by sweeping to an overwhelming majority in the recently concluded Assembly polls with his recently formed AINRC in alliance with the AIADMK, on Sunday met Lieutenant-Governor Iqbal Singh and staked claim to form government in the Union Territory.
Mr Rangasamy is likely to be sworn in as chief minister of Puducherry at a function in Raj Nivas here on Monday. The swearing in is likely to take place at 3 pm, an official source said.
It is reliably learnt that Mr Rangasamy alone will be administered the oath of office and secrecy by the L-G. The Cabinet will be formed in due course of time.
There was no immediate confirmation on whether Mr Rangasamy will head a coalition government or not. The AINRC had won 15 seats and the AIADMK five seats in the 30-member Assembly.