Kerala UDF cabinet: CPM's nemesis KK Rema says Congress didn't ask her on ministerial post

While finalising cabinet slots, the Congress has not reached out to Vadakara MLA-elect K K Rema, who has been a fiery critic of the CPM and former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Rema, who took to politics after her husband and RMP leader T P Chandrasekharan was allegedly murdered by CPM workers in 2012, has been a formidable force in the assembly, posing harsh questions at the CPM.

She has fiercely stoked sentiments against the CPM in Onchiyam and Vadakara, paving the way for the UDF victory in the Lok Sabha elections, local body polls and in the assembly elections.

Rema told Onmanorama that she didn't receive a call from the Congress regarding the ministerial post. "We didn't place any demand. We haven't received any communication either. There were no talks till now," she said while travelling to Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. Rema added that the party would consider it if Congress reached out regarding the cabinet slot. She ruled out reports saying that she was uninterested and that she turned down requests to be inducted into the cabinet

RMP representatives also said that the party has not initiated any talks with the Congress on a ministerial post for Rema. "We would consider it positively, though, if the Congress held talks with us," a party representative said. The final list of the cabinet is expected to be out by Sunday noon.

At present, the Congress will have 12 berths, including the Chief Minister, while the allies have 9 slots. The IUML has been given five ministerial posts. CMP, RSP, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Jacob) and the KDP will have one post each. Kerala Congress (Jacob) and the KDP have been reportedly asked to share ministerial posts for 2.5 years each.

The RMP is an associate member of the UDF. The 2026 assembly election results were declared on May 4, which also marked the death anniversary of T P Chandrasekharan. Rema put out an emotionally charged post on social media when Pinarayi Vijayan trailed in his constituency, Dharmadom, in the first six rounds. “The six rounds that are over, that’s enough, Kerala! After 14 years, Chandrasekharan has finally seen the man who branded him a traitor and called for his killing, standing stripped and exposed under the scorching sun," she posted on Facebook on the counting day.

Chief Minister-designate V D Satheesan has vehemently supported Rema in the assembly whenever CPM MLAs hurled insensitive comments at her. In 2022, CPM MLA M M Mani said in the assembly that it was Rema's fate that she became a widow. "We are not responsible for what happened to her," Mani said, while participating in a discussion on the Police and Jail Departments in the Assembly.

V D Satheesan, who was the opposition leader, said the UDF would not let the Assembly function unless Mani apologised for his remarks. "We cannot carry on like this after one of our sisters is insulted in this manner," Satheesan told the assembly.

Ramesh Chennithala also rallied behind Rema, saying that the Congress would not allow the House to proceed after a martyr like T P Chandrasekharan was insulted in such a manner. As pressure mounted, Mani was forced to back down, and he withdrew his remarks against Rema. In 2021, she had declared that her candidature in Vadakara was against the 'political fascism' of Pinarayi Vijayan.

Rema, who entered electoral politics in the 2016 assembly polls, had finished third with a vote share of 15.82% in Vadakara. In 2021, she was backed by the UDF, and she defeated Manayath Chandran of the LJD, securing a vote share of 47%. She almost doubled her majority in the 2026 elections and upped her vote share to 49%, trouncing LDF candidate M K Bhaskaran.