Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated V D Satheesan on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala and assured full support from the Centre to the newly formed government.
In a post on X, PM Modi extended his wishes to Satheesan following the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Thiruvananthapuram.
“Congratulations to Shri VD Satheesan Ji on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala. My best wishes for his tenure. The Central Government assures all possible support for the newly formed Kerala Government in fulfilling the aspirations of the people,” the Prime Minister said.
Satheesan took oath as Chief Minister along with his 20-member Cabinet at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, marking the return of the Congress-led UDF to power after a decade.
Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers. The ceremony concluded with the playing of Vande Mataram followed by the National Anthem.
The Cabinet includes 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 who took oath include 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.
Several senior Congress leaders attended the ceremony, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal.
Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers from Congress-ruled states, including Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar, A Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, were also present at the event.
The UDF secured a massive victory in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections, winning 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly. The Congress emerged as the largest party with 63 seats, while the IUML won 22 seats. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) was reduced to 35 seats, while the BJP secured three constituencies.
Meanwhile, PM Modi concluded his visit to Sweden, the third leg of his five-nation tour, saying the visit added “new momentum” to India-Sweden ties.
The Prime Minister said India and Sweden elevated bilateral relations to a Strategic Partnership and launched the Joint Innovation Partnership 2.0 and the India-Sweden Technology and Artificial Intelligence Corridor.
“From elevating our ties to a Strategic Partnership, launching the Joint Innovation Partnership 2.0 and the India-Sweden Technology and Artificial Intelligence Corridor, to setting an ambitious goal of doubling bilateral trade in the next five years, the discussions were highly productive,” PM Modi said.
-ANI
