Non-Resident Indian (NRI) businessman and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Thomas Chandy yesterday took oath as a new minister in the ten-month-old Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in Kerala.
The Kuwait-based education entrepreneur who represents the Kuttanad assembly constituency in Alappuzha district holds the portfolios of road transport, motor vehicles and water transport.
The 61-year-old, the richest among the 140 legislators in the southern state, replaces his senior party colleague AK Saseendran, 71, who had to resign after a telephone honeytrap laid by a newly launched television channel.
Governor P Sathasivam administered the oath of office and secrecy at an august function held at the Raj Bhavan. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his ministers and Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan were also present.
Though the opposition Congress leaders were away in Malappuram attending a meeting of its top decision-making body and campaigning for the April 12 by-poll there, former chief minister VS Achuthanandan, a veteran leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which leads the ruling coalition, was conspicuous by his absence.
“The first on my agenda is to achieve a turnaround for the loss-making (public transport behemoth) KSRTC without terminating the loss-making services,” he told reporters after assuming office.
“States closer to us like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh all runs the road transport corporations profitably. Why is it not possible in Kerala?”
Chandy is the fourth minister from the communist heartland of Alappuzha after Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran and P Thilothaman, making it the largest contingent in the 20-member cabinet, which also exposes its demographic imbalance.
Kannur and Thrissur closely follow with three ministers each, but there are three unrepresented districts, including the third most populous district of Ernakulam.
Kottayam and Wayanad have no representation while Malappuram, which has the double the size of Alappuzha in population, and the second most populous Thiruvananthapuram, has only one minister in the cabinet.
“I have to find out the cancer cells in the KSRTC and remove them. I’ll utilise my long experience and expertise in running a business successfully, for it,” he added, addressing a meet-the-press at the Press Club here.
Meanwhile, the special investigation team of the Kerala police, which held its first meeting on the day, reportedly decided to serve a notice on the Mangalam Television to submit the cellphone and other gadgets its woman journalist used to trap the 71-year-old minister to engage in lewd talks.