Talks to share portfolios within the newly formed United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala might hit new roadblocks on Tuesday as discontentment among those who form the front began to surface in the public domain.
The Congress-led alliance of UDF had indicated on Monday that a broad understanding has been reached on Cabinet allocations but a few delays in the final government gazette notification meant that allocation of key ministries remained a subject of negotiations behind closed doors.
Senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala and K. Muraleedharan were both expected to get Home and Health portfolios respectively, but this has not been officially confirmed.
Fresh tensions surfaced over the unresolved issues in the allocation of portfolios in the UDF, with several alliance members accusing each other of not being satisfied with the allocation. In an interview with reporters, Kappan expressed doubts about the term-sharing system that is apparently being observed for smaller parties and independent legislators and noted that in some instances there are “unusual exceptions.”
Kappan also complained about his absence from the Cabinet becoming a three-time MLA, having beaten Jose K. Mani for the second straight time in the Pala constituency. He said that his induction into the ministry could have been blocked by the objections from within a UDF ally.
The developments have succeeded in revealing the fine balancing act that the Congress leadership is required to pull off to keep the coalition partners in the state united as a government after winning a decisive election victory over the Left Democratic Front (LDF).
The next few days will be extremely important for chief minister V. D. Satheesan to defuse the situation and settle a stable Cabinet.