VS to take oath as Kerala CM

Ahead of the swearing in of the LDF ministry, VS and his Marxist colleagues paid floral tributes to martyrs.

Ahead of the swearing in of the 19-member Left Democratic Front ministry in Kerala, Chief Minister-designate VS Achuthanandan and his Marxist colleagues paid floral tributes to martyrs of the legendary Punnapra-Vayalar struggle on Thursday.

HT Image

Achuthanandan and minister-designates from the CPI-M and CPI offered their tributes at the martyrs' memorial at Valiya Chudukadu at Punnapra in Alappuzha district, where those who lost their lives in the uprising against the oppressive 'Divan Administration' in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore in the late 1940s were laid to rest.

Saluting the Punnapra-Vayalar revolutionaries before assuming power has been a Communist tradition in Kerala followed since the time of EMS Namboodiripad ministry.

The LDF had on Wednesday night finalised the composition and portfolios of the ministry in which the lead partner CPI-M will have 12 nominees, including Chief Minister, CPI four and Janata Dal (S), RSP and Kerala Congress (Joseph) one each.

The swearing-in will take place at the Central Stadium at 4 pm.