Pinarayi Vijayan and EP JayarajanThiruvananthapuram: With the exit of E. P. Jayarajan, the four-month-old Pinarayi Vijayan government seems set for its first cabinet reshuffle.
Apart from the induction of a new face into the council of ministers, reshuffling of some portfolios is also expected.
"The cabinet reshuffle may take place immediately after the ongoing session of the assembly," a party insider said.
The industries portfolio will not be assigned to a new face.
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The CPM politburo will meet on November 15 and 16, followed by the meetings of the party state secretariat and the state committee.
Though the meetings were originally scheduled to deliberate on the proposals put forth by state committees at the Kolkata plenum, the latest developments in the state will also be discussed in detail.
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Meanwhile, the state secretariat made clear that there was no need to take a decision on the new minister in haste. Before selecting Jayarajan’s replacement, the state leadership will look into the nature of the possible disciplinary action to be initiated against him.
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There is a talk that A. K. Balan, another Central Committee member, could replace Jayarajan and take over the industries and sports portfolios.
If that happens, Law and Culture, the portfolios currently being held by Balan, will have to be assigned to another person.
If Kadakampally Surendran is made industries minister, the party will have to find another minister to oversee the power portfolio.
Another rumor doing the rounds is that speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan will be made a minister and he may be replaced by either K. Suresh Kurup or Raju Abraham.
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Many national leaders reportedly wanted Kurup as speaker when the LDF was voted to power. However, he will have to ensure the support of the state leaders as well as the CPM Kottayam district committee to push for the coveted post.
Another theory is that since Jayarajan was from Kannur, his replacement would also be from the same district. At present, Kannur has two representatives, Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and health minister K. K. Shailaja, in the council of ministers.
While inducting a new minister into the cabinet, the CM may also put forth some tough tasks to improve the functioning of his cabinet colleagues. The CM is reportedly unhappy with the performance of certain ministers.
So, in a way, the restructuring exercise could be dubbed as ‘performance appraisal’ and could have some bearing on who gets to continue in the government.
