Kerala CM Vijayan's son-in-law Mohammad Riyaz in cabinet as Left explains Shailaja shocker

A year after marrying into CM Pinarayi Vijayan's family, son-in-law PA Mohammad Riyaz has been named in the Kerala cabinet list that was unveiled by the LDF on Tuesday. Mohammad Riyaz, who contested & won from the Beyopre constituency in the recently concluded Kerala Assembly elections, was given a berth in father-in-law and CM Pinarayi Vijayan's new cabinet which is touted to have 'young & fresh faces', while former Health Minister KK Shailaja has been dropped despite her deeds in the state's battle against the first wave of COVID.

While CPI(M) leader AN Shamsher termed the new cabinet list as a 'good decision', he defended the party's decision to drop KK Shailaja from the cabinet, claiming that a 'unilateral decision' was taken collectively by the party and insisted that the cabinet had 'many young faces'. It is pertinent to mention that former Health Minister KK Shailaja had secured the highest margin of victory in the Assembly polls by winning Mattannur with a margin of 60,963 votes. 

CPI(M) springs surprise, drops KK Shailaja, other sitting Ministers from Cabinet

On the other hand, Shailaja will now function as the party whip in the Legislative Assembly. LDF has zeroed in on ex-Lok Sabha MP MB Rajesh for the Speaker's post. All other sitting Ministers have been dropped as well. The new Cabinet will have 11 Ministers- MV Govindan, K Radhakrishnan, KN Balagopal, P Rajeev, VN Vasavan, Saji Cherian, V Sivankutty, Vijayan's son-in-law Mohd Riyas, Dr R Bindu, Veena George and V Abdul Rahman. 

The new government's swearing-in ceremony will be held at 3.30 pm on May 20 at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. As per the COVID-19 protocols, only 500 participants will be allowed and the entry and exit of the attendees shall be regulated. Moreover, only persons producing a negative novel coronavirus test report obtained within 48 hours or the final certification of COVID-19 vaccination shall be permitted entry into the Central Stadium.

Kerala Assembly poll results

The polling for the 2021 state Assembly polls was held on April 6 with an impressive voter turnout of 74.06 per cent. After a hard-fought election campaign, LDF created history by becoming the first incumbent government in Kerala in nearly four decades to get re-elected. The tally of UDF, buoyed by its performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls where it won 19 out of 20 seats in the state, was reduced to 41 seats. In contrast, LDF bagged 99 out of 140 seats, 8 more than the 2016 election. UDF's vote share of 39.47% could not pose a challenge to the ruling alliance, which garnered 45.43%.

Widely credited for her handling of the COVID-19 crisis, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja secured the highest margin of victory in the Assembly polls by winning Mattannur with a margin of 60,963 votes. All Ministers who were given tickets barring J Mercykutty Amma won their respective seats. In a shocking reversal for BJP, it not only won fewer votes as compared to 2016 but also failed to retain its lone seat- Nemom. While Kerala BJP president K Surendran lost from both Konni and Manjeshwar, 'Metroman' E Sreedharan could not secure a victory in the Palakkad seat.