KOCHI: More than six weeks after the Congress-led UDF assumed office, several influential cabinet-rank and policy-making positions remain vacant, triggering intense lobbying within the alliance and fuelling speculation over who will eventually occupy the coveted posts.
Among the most closely watched appointments is the chairperson of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission (KARC), a cabinet-rank post widely regarded as a prestigious political assignment.
The position was held by veteran CPM leader V S Achuthanandan during the first Pinarayi Vijayan government. According to UDF sources, senior IUML leader Dr M K Muneer remains the party’s preferred nominee for the post.
However, Kerala Congress leaders are learnt to be lobbying for their chairman P J Joseph to head the commission. If Joseph is not appointed chairman of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission, KC(J) is likely to pitch him for the post of chairperson of the Kerala State Welfare Corporation for Forward Communities (KSWCFC). There is also a proposal to appoint Joseph to head an agriculture reforms panel tasked with recommending measures to modernise the state’s agriculture sector.
Should the Congress leadership decide to accommodate Joseph, sources say Muneer could instead be considered for the chairpersonship of the Kerala State Commission for Minorities. Party sources maintain that the IUML is keen to secure at least one of the two cabinet-rank assignments.
The race for the vice-chairmanship of the Kerala State Planning Board is equally keenly watched. Former Union cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar is considered a strong contender, having earlier served as planning board vice-chairman during the Oommen Chandy government.
Chandrasekhar recently headed the three-member expert panel entrusted to prepare the white paper on Kerala’s finances. Economist Dr D Narayana, a member of the same panel and former director of the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, is also expected to find a place in the reconstituted planning board. Former chief secretary Jiji Thomson is also learnt to be lobbying, either for the planning board vice-chairmanship or as chief executive officer of the KIIFB, according to sources.
The planning board itself is set for a major overhaul. The government has announced plans to transform it into a policy think tank on the lines of NITI Aayog while retaining its traditional planning functions. Besides preparing development plans, the revamped board is expected to function as a bridge between the government and civil society, monitor priority projects, strengthen coordination with district administrations, and maintain closer engagement with NITI Aayog. The proposal builds on recommendations made in the government’s white paper on Kerala’s finances.
Another appointment attracting considerable political attention is that of the special representative of the government in New Delhi, which fell vacant after former Union minister K V Thomas resigned. Former Union minister and ex-Rajya Sabha deputy chairman P J Kurien is understood to be keen on the post, while sources say MP Shashi Tharoor is also interested.
A retired senior bureaucrat said it typically takes about six months for a new government to settle down before filling key positions. “Every appointment involves political balancing. There will be pulls and pressures from coalition partners such as the IUML and Kerala Congress, besides regional and community considerations,” the former bureaucrat said.
Sources said the decisions will offer an early indication of how the Satheesan government intends to balance political accommodation with administrative priorities.
