KOCHI: Ernakulam district, which did not find a ministerial berth in Pinarayi 1.0 cabinet, is all set to get a representative in the new LDF cabinet. P Rajeev, a party state secretariat member and MLA-elect from Kalamassery, will be the sole member in the Pinarayi 2.0 cabinet from Ernakulam.
While the name of Rajeev, who is also a former Rajya Sabha MP, as a cabinet member is more or less confirmed, it is not known what will be his portfolio though it is speculated that he may be given the key education or finance portfolio. Ernakulam, the state’s commercial capital which sends 14 MLAs to the assembly, found no representation in Pinarayi Vijayan’s first term, though the LDF had five representatives including senior CPM leader S Sarma, MLA from Vypin.
This time too Ernakulam has only five LDF MLAs -- from Vypin, Kochi, Kothamangalam, Kalamassery and Kunnathunad. Rajeev, who stayed away from the 2016 assembly election as he was the CPM’s Ernakulam district secretary at that time, created a history of sorts by winning from Kalamassery this election, which is considered a UDF bastion.
During the Oommen Chandy-led UDF regime from 2011-2016, Ernakulam had as many as three ministers viz., K Babu of Congress, Anoop Jacob of KC-J and V K Ibrahim Kunju of Indian Union Muslim League.