Kerala: K K Shailaja Dropped From LDF Cabinet; Vijayan's Son-In-Law, CPM General Secretary's Wife Make Debut

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Pinarayi Vijayan was elected its parliamentary party leader on Tuesday(18 May) for his second and consecutive term as Chief Minister of Kerala according to a report published in Times of India.

In a meeting at its headquarters AKG Centre, the state committee of the CPI elected Vijayan to lead the party, a CPI(M) statement said.

K K Shailaja, Health Minister in the previous government, and all the other old cabinet ministers would not be the part of the new Vijayan cabinet, which has 11 new faces from CPI (M).

The committee, chaired by Elamaram Kareem, chose Shailaja for the position of the party whip and MB Rajesh as the Speaker candidate. the statement added.

Vijayan's son-in-law, PA Mohamad Riyas, is among his new Cabinet members and CPI(M) secretary A Vijayaraghavan's wife R Bindu is also included in the new ministry.

The other cabinet members are Veena George, MV Govindan, P Rajeev, KN Balagopal, V Sivankutty, VN Vasavan, Saji Cherian, K Radhakrishnan and V Abdul Rahaman.

Vijayan and his cabinet will be sworn in on 20 May.