PM Modi congratulates V D Satheesan on taking oath as Kerala CM, assures Centre’s support

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated V D Satheesan after he took oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala and assured full support from the Centre to the newly formed state governmentIn a message posted on X following the swearingin ceremony in Thiruvananthapuram PM Modi extended his best wishes to Satheesan and said the Union government would cooperate with the new administration in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of KeralaCongratulations to Shri VD Satheesan Ji on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Keralam My best wishes for his tenure The Central Government assures all possible support for the newly formed Keralam Government in fulfilling the aspirations of the peoplevdsatheesanmdash Narendra Modi narendramodi May 18 2026ldquoCongratulations to Shri VD Satheesan Ji on taking oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala My best wishes for his tenure The Central Government assures all possible support for the newly formed Kerala Government in fulfilling the aspirations of the peoplerdquo PM Modi wroteSatheesan sworn in as Kerala Chief MinisterSatheesan was sworn in along with his 20member Cabinet at a ceremony held at Central Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram marking the Congressled United Democratic Frontrsquos return to power in the state after a decadeGovernor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to the Chief Minister and other ministers The ceremony concluded with the singing of Vande Mataram followed by the National AnthemThe Cabinet includes senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala K Muraleedharan and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sunny JosephLeaders from alliance partner Indian Union Muslim League IUML including P K Kunhalikutty P K Basheer N Samsudheen K M Shaji and V E Abdul Gafoor were also inducted into the ministrySeveral firsttime ministers inductedOther ministers who took oath included Mons Joseph Shibu Baby John Anoop Jacob C P John A P Anil Kumar T Siddique P C Vishnunath Roji M John Bindu Krishna M Liju K A Thulasi and O J JaneeshThe new Cabinet includes several firsttime ministers and reflects the UDFrsquos attempt to balance senior leadership with fresh faces in governmentCongress leadership attends swearingin ceremonyThe ceremony was attended by senior Congress leaders including party president Mallikarjun Kharge Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Congress general secretary K C VenugopalChief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers from Congressruled states were also present at the event including Siddaramaiah D K Shivakumar A Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh SukhuUDF returned to power with decisive mandateThe Congressled UDF registered a sweeping victory in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections by winning 102 seats in the 140member HouseThe Congress emerged as the singlelargest party with 63 seats while the IUML secured 22 seats The Left Democratic Front was reduced to 35 seats while the BJP won three constituenciesPM Modi concludes Sweden visit heads to NorwayMeanwhile PM Modi concluded his visit to Sweden which was the third leg of his fivenation tour In another post on X the Prime Minister said the visit had added ldquonew momentumrdquo to IndiaSweden relationsHe highlighted key outcomes including the elevation of IndiaSweden ties to a Strategic Partnership the launch of the Joint Innovation Partnership 20 and the IndiaSweden Technology and Artificial Intelligence CorridorPM Modi also said both countries had agreed on an ambitious target of doubling bilateral trade within the next five yearsThe Prime Minister is scheduled to travel to Norway next for the third IndiaNordic Summit in Oslo where he will hold bilateral talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr StoreWith inputs from IANS