Thiruvananthapuram: CPM MLA OR Kelu will take oath as a minister in the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet on Sunday evening at a special ceremony in Raj Bhavan. He will  replace newly elected MP K Radhakrishnan in the cabinet. Though CPM is getting its first tribal minister, the LDF government has come under fire for not giving devaswom portfolio to Kelu.

The Wayanad MLA is likely to get the portfolio of Welfare of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castres and Backward Classes. Parliamentary affairs and Devaswom portfolios, handled previously by Radhakrishnan, have been assigned to ministers MB Rajesh and V N Vasavan, respectively. The LDF government's decision had triggered heated debates alleging caste discrimination in the portfolio allocation.

Radhakrishnan on Sunday justified the Left Democratic Front's (LDF) decision and argued that priority should be given to the entry of a minister from tribal community to the cabinet. Radhakrishnan had resigned as a minister for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Parliamentary Affairs and Devaswom after being elected to the Lok Sabha from the Alathur constituency.

Talking to a Manorama News, Radhakrishnan said: "It is for the first time that a person belonging to the tribal community is becoming a minister. We should see that merit first," he said.

He also said there might be differences in the portfolio but what is more important is that he could become a minister from Wayanad. Radhakrishnan said newcomers should become capable of handling the portfolios assigned to them and the present portfolio is entrusted with Kelu with an expectation that he would handle it well.

The 54-year-old CPM leader from a tribal community in Wayanad, Kelu was recently recommended by the CPM state committee to be inducted as a minister in the LDF cabinet. He is the second tribal minister in Kerala; PK Jayalakshmi in Oommen Chandy's cabinet holds the credit of being the first minister from tribal community. Although there is a clear indication that Kelu will get the portfolio of Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, sources said there would be a minor shuffle in the portfolios previously held by Radhakrishnan. The Congress-led opposition UDF on Saturday said it was a wrong decision on the part of the LDF government to not give the Devaswom portfolio to Kelu.

Leader of Opposition in the Assembly VD Satheesan said Chief Minister Vijayan, who rightly opposed the non-appointment of Congress MP Kodikunnil Suresh as pro-tem Speaker in the Lok Sabha, took a different stand when it came to Kelu. "That is a wrong decision. The state government showed the same attitude in Kelu's case as the Centre did when it did not make Suresh, the senior most MP in the Lok Sabha, the pro-tem Speaker," he said. 
(With PTI inputs)