Thiruvananthapuram

Within the CPI(M), discussions have begun regarding a potential portfolio rearrangement. This is because Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan needs to identify a successor for K. Radhakrishnan, the state minister for SC/ST and the lone Left candidate to win the Lok Sabha election.
In the upcoming days, a number of CPI(M) leadership meetings will decide whether or not to do this.
There have been grumblings within the ruling Left, with a segment of the CPI, the party’s second-largest ally, publicly expressing dissatisfaction with CM Vijayan’s management style and the RJD’s Kerala branch.

All eyes are on CM Vijayan to fill the vacant position of Radhakrishnan, as the RJD has been excluded from the cabinet since 2021 and other allies have been appointed to that position.
Two-time CPI(M) member O.R. Kelu and new legislator K. Santhakumari are among the names that have been circulating in case CM Vijayan decides to fill the vacancy inside the CPI(M).

The inclusion of a JD(S) nominee in the CM Vijayan cabinet is another issue that the CPI(M) is upset about, as their national leadership is an ally of the BJP-led NDA and its leader, H.D. Kumaraswamy, is a cabinet minister in the Narendra Modi administration.
The JD(S) Kerala unit has been threatened with removal from the cabinet if they do not combine with another party.