Left ministries take oath in Kerala, WB; Rangaswamy Pondy CM

New Delhi, May 18 (UNI) Left Front ministries led by Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Mr V S Achuthanandan assumed office in West Bengal and Kerala respectively, while Congress' N Rangaswamy took oath as Chief Minister in Pondicherry for a second time in succession today.

Sixty-two-year-old Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee returned as Chief Minister in West Bengal at the head of a 44-member two-tier ministry as the Left Front formed a government in the state for a historic seventh term.

Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Ministers-- 33 of cabinet rank and eleven Ministers of State-- at a glittering ceremony at Raj Bhavan. The Ministry includes 16 new faces of whom two are women.

One of the three proteges of iconic Marxist leader Promode Dasgupta, Mr Bhattacharjee had taken over the reins of the government from Mr Jyoti Basu, who retired from active politics in 2000 on health grounds.

Known for his straight talk and progressive outlook, Mr Bhattacharjee has pushed forward his agenda of progress and transformation, often walking a tight rope between his party hardliners and liberalists.

About 3,000 invitees, including noted politicians, industrialists, intellectuals and eminent personalities from all walks of life were witness to the ceremony. CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat, veteran leader Jyoti Basu, Polit bureau members Sitaram Yechuri and Brinda Karat besides leaders of various political parties and trade union organisations and senior civil and army officials also attended the ceremony.

However, the Trinamool Congress boycotted the programme in protest against alleged terrorisation of party workers by the CPI(M) following the elections.

This is for the first time a party or a coalition has retained power for a seventh successive term in any state.

In Thiruvananthapuram, a 19-member Left Democratic Front (LDF) ministry headed by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member V S Achuthanandan was sworn in by Governor R L Bhatia.

Sixteen of the ministers, including Chief Minister Achuthanandan, are new faces in the Cabinet. Three were ministers in the Nayanar government (1996-2001).

Mr Achuthanandan is the 25th Chief Minister of Kerala and the fifth from Communist ranks. The 82-year-old leader, an ardent Marxist, had never held a ministerial position in the six decades of political life, missing the highest job on two occasions. He was third time lucky.

A large number of people, including family members of the ministers, witnessed the swearing-in ceremony, held for the first time outside Raj Bhavan premises at the Central Stadium adjacent to the State Secretariat complex.

The CPI(M)-led LDF won 98 of the 140 Assembly seats in the polls throwing the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) out of power.

Mr N Rangasamy was sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of the Union Territory of Pondicherry. Pondicherry Lt.Governor M M Lakhera administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 56-year-old leader at a simple function.

He was the only person to take oath today as the list of his cabinet colleagues was yet to be finalised, following demands from several elected members for ministerial berth. The swearing in of the ministers is expected to be held in a couple of days.

AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora, General Secretaries B K Hariprasad and V Narayanasamy, Secretary Sudhakar Reddy, leaders of alliance partners and several members elected to the territorial assembly were among others, who attended the function in Pondicherry.

UNI TEAM LR RN1909