Achuthanandan to be swon-in Kerala CM on May 18

Thiruvananthapuram, May 15 (UNI) Eightytwo-year-old veteran communist V S Achuthanandan will be sworn-in as the next Chief Minister of Kerala on May 18.

The state committee of the CPI(M) unanimously elected Mr Achuthanandan to head the government, the party said in a statement here.

Emerging out from the AKG Centre, the party state headquarters here, Mr Achuthanandan told newspersons that the swearing-in would be held on May 18 at 1600 hrs at the Chandraseksharan Nair Stadium.

The strength of the Cabinet and other details would be finalised at the meeting of the Left Democratic Front(LDF) which was meeting on May 17, he said, but evaded a reply on whether the crucial Home portfolio would be retained by him.

According to the statement, the state committee meeting today, presided over by senior leader M A Baby, was attended by CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and polit bureau member Sitaram Yechuri.

State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan proposed the structure of the Cabinet, which was approved by the state committee unanimously.

Achuthanandan, a two-time Leader of the Opposition in Kerala, was given the mantle to head the government as he was generally considered to be the architect for the spectacular victory of the Left Democratic Front in the three-tier Assembly elections.

The LDF got 98 out of the 140 seats, throwing the Congress-led United Democratic Front out of power.