THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM's Pinarayi Vijayan took oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala, along with the 18 ministers which make up his cabinet in the new LDF government, during a colourful ceremony held at the Central Stadium here in the state capital on Wednesday evening.
Vijayan sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state in the presence of Kerala Governor P Sathasivam at the venue which was thronged by over 35,000 spectators hours before the function began at 4 pm. Vijayan was cheered by the spectators who shouted 'Inquilab Zindabad' after he took the oath as thousands more watched the function through the giant screens set up outside the stadium.
E Chandrasekharan who will be the new Revenue minister, Mathew T Thomas who takes the Water Resources portfolio, A K Saseendran who takes the Transport Ministry and Ports Minister Kadanapally Ramachandran followed Vijayan to the stage to take their oaths. 18 ministers -- 12 from CPM, four from CPI and one each from Janata Dal (S), Congress (S) and NCP -- are part of Vijayan's Cabinet.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, politburo member Prakash Karat and senior leader V S Achuthanandan were in the front row for the function while former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty, former Speaker N Sakthan and Kerala Congress' P J Joseph were also present.
Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and senior BJP leader O Rajagopal, who became the first BJP legislator in Kerala Assembly from Nemom constituency, also marked their presence the function.
Celebrities in attendance including film stars Mammootty and Dileep, KPAC Lalitha who was earlier touted as an LDF candidate, script writer and actor Renji Panicker, actor Suresh Krishna and singer G Venugopal while actor-turned politicians Innocent MP and MLA Mukesh who won from Kollam constituency were also present.
Thomas Isaac, E P Jayarajan, G Sudhakaran, E Chandrasekharan, K T Jaleel, K Raju, C Raveendranath, A K Saseendran, K K Shylaja, Kadakampally Surendran, V S Sunil Kumar, P Thilothaman, J Mercy Kutty, T P Ramakrishnan, Kadannappally Ramachandran, Mathew T Thomas, A C Moideen and A K Balan are the ministers in the LDF government.