Chandy sworn in as chief minister for second stint

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress leader Oommen Chandy, 67, was sworn in as Kerala's 21st chief minister by Governor R.S. Gavai at Raj Bhavan here Wednesday.

This will be Chandy's second stint as the chief minister, after 2004 when he replaced A.K. Antony following a Congress rout in the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Parliament) polls.Party leaders from all six allies of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) were also sworn in with Chandy.

The new ministers include Indian Union Muslim League's (IUML) P.K. Kunhalikutty, K.M. Mani of the Kerala Congress (Mani), K.P. Mohanan of the Socialist Janata (Democratic) (SJ-D) party, T.M. Jacob of the Kerala Congress (Jacob), K.B. Ganesh Kumar of Kerala Congress (Pillai) and Shibu Baby John of the RSP (B).

Among those in attendance were outgoing chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, former minister and UDF leader K.R. Gowri, and former Left ministers Thomas Issac, M.A. Baby, and K. Ramachandran.

After tea with the governor, Chandy and his newly-formed Cabinet drove to the state secretariat for its first meeting. The second round of swearing-in is expected to be held here on Monday.

Earlier, Chandy and several leaders of the United Democratic Front were seen heading to churches before being sworn in.

Chandy drove to his home parish at Puthupally in Kottayam district late Tuesday night and prayed at the grave of his parents. He returned at his office here well past midnight. A couple of senior bishops arrived at his home this morning and conducted a short prayer session and wished him the best for his second outing as the chief minister.

"You can look forward to very important decisions that will be announced at the very first Cabinet meeting to be held soon after the swearing in," Chandy told reporters.