Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], May 18 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu arrived in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday and attended the swearing-in ceremony of V D Satheesan as the new Chief Minister of Keralam. The CM congratulated the newly appointed head of state immediately after the official oath administration concluded.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister expressed hope and expressed that Keralam will scale new heights of development, social justice and good governance under his leadership.
On the other hand, on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated VD Satheesan on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Keralam and assured full support from the Centre to the newly formed government in fulfilling the aspirations of the people.
In a post shared on X, PM Modi extended his wishes to Satheesan following the swearing-in ceremony of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Thiruvananthapuram.
"Congratulations to Shri VD Satheesan Ji on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Keralam. My best wishes for his tenure. The Central Government assures all possible support for the newly formed Keralam Government in fulfilling the aspirations of the people," the Prime Minister wrote.
Satheesan took oath as the Chief Minister of Keralam along with his 20-member Cabinet at the Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, marking the return of the Congress-led UDF to power after a decade.
Keralam Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers. The ceremony concluded with the playing of Vande Mataram followed by the National Anthem.
The 20-member Cabinet who sworn in, includes senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, K Muraleedharan and KPCC chief Sunny Joseph, along with Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leaders PK Kunhalikutty, PK Basheer, N Samsudheen, KM Shaji and VE Abdul Gafoor.
Several senior Congress leaders attended the ceremony, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.
Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers from Congress-ruled states, including Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, were also present.
The UDF secured a landslide victory in the 2026 Keralam Assembly elections, winning 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly. The Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 63 seats, while the IUML won 22 seats. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) was reduced to 35 seats, while the BJP secured three constituencies.