THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: All arrangements have been made for the swearing-in ceremony of Pinarayi Vijayan-led government amid criticism over the number of invitees to the function on Thursday. Pinarayi will take the oath of office as the next chief minister of Kerala along with other ministers in the new cabinet. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan will administer the oath of office and secrecy at the ceremony which will be a “low-key affair”, as per the chief minister’s words.
After the ceremony, Pinarayi and team will attend a customary high tea to be hosted by the governor on Raj Bhavan premises. This will be followed by the first cabinet meeting at the secretariat which will fix the date for the date and time of the assembly session to host the oath-taking ceremony of newly elected MLAs.
Meanwhile, a worker engaged in the construction of the pandal at the venue of swearing-in at Central Stadium tested positive for Covid-19, raising concern. The other workers who had come in contact with him have been quarantined. Those who attend the ceremony, which will begin at 3.30pm, should reach the venue at 2.45pm. Only those who come with negative results of RT-PCT/TrueNat/RT-Lamp negative tests taken 48 hours before the event would be allowed inside the stadium.
A musical fete featuring 52 singers, including K J Yesudas, A R Rahman, Hariharan, P Jayachandran, K S Chitra, Sujatha, M G Sreekumar and Sivamani and actor Mohana Lal, will greet the dignitaries at the venue. Titled ‘Nava Kerala Githanjali to be telecast online, the musical fete will chronicle the development and growth of Kerala achieved during the time of Left governments - from E M S Nampoodiripad-led government to the last government led by Pinarayi Vijayan. The musical presentation was conceived by director T K Rajeevkumar.