Oommen Chandy sworn in as Kerala chief minister

[1]

Congress leader Oommen Chandy, 67, was sworn in as Kerala's 21st chief minister by Governor R.S. Gavai at Raj Bhavan here on Wednesday.This will be Chandy's second stint as the chief minister, after 2004 when he replaced A.K. Antony following a Congress rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

Party leaders from all six allies of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) were also sworn in with Chandy.

The new ministers include Indian Union Muslim League's (IUML) P.K. Kunhalikutty, K.M. Mani of the Kerala Congress (Mani), K.P. Mohanan of the Socialist Janata (Democratic) (SJ-D) party, T.M. Jacob of the Kerala Congress (Jacob), K.B. Ganesh Kumar of Kerala Congress (Pillai) and Shibu Baby John of the RSP (B).

Among those in attendance were outgoing chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, former minister and UDF leader K.R. Gowri, and former Left ministers Thomas Issac, M.A. Baby, and K. Ramachandran, among others.

After tea with the governor, Chandy and his newly-formed cabinet drove to the state secretariat for its first cabinet meeting.

The second round of swearing-in is expected to be held here May 23.