Kottayam: Mananthavady MLA OR Kelu is likely to replace Minister K Radhakrishnan, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Alathur. While the name of CPM's youth face Sachin Dev is under consideration, Kelu stands out due to his membership in the CPM state committee and his position in the tribal welfare committee. In the 2011 Oommen Chandy government, PK Jayalakshmi, a member of the Scheduled Tribe, served in the UDF cabinet. Kelu secured victory in the Mananthavady constituency in the 2016 assembly elections, defeating Jayalakshmi, and repeated his success in 2021.

Notably, there are no other Dalit MLAs in the party who hold positions on the state committee. If Kelu is appointed as minister, Wayanad will gain representation in the cabinet for the first time. There was no minister from Wayanad in the first Pinarayi government either. However, if the government decides that ministerial representation from the Scheduled Caste community is sufficient, other candidates will be considered instead of Kelu.

The CPM State Secretariat will arrive at a final decision regarding Radhakrishnan's resignation at a meeting on Friday. The cabinet reshuffle is expected to occur before the start of the legislative session on June 10. Alongside the appointment of the new minister, deliberations are ongoing regarding potential reshuffle for other ministers. The LDF government had received widespread acclaim for appointing Radhakrishnan, a Scheduled Tribe member, as Devaswom minister.

OR Kelu is the first Scheduled Tribe leader from Wayanad district to ascend to the CPM state committee. Kelu, hailing from the Kurichya community, also chairs the Legislative Committee on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Backward Welfare. He has been an active people's representative for over two decades, starting as a Gram Panchayat member in 2000 from Edayoorkunnu Ward of Tirunelli Gram Panchayat. He subsequently served as the president of Tirunelli Gram Panchayat for two terms from 2005 to 2010. Later, in 2015, he became a member of the Mananthavady block panchayat from the Tirunelli division.