Murali joins Cabinet with dad’s blessings

Antony said Muraleedharan’s induction would strengthen the United Democratic Front government and the Congress in the state. ‘‘I am hopeful that induction of a key party colleague would strengthen the Congress and the UDF,’’ he said.

On the offer of a ministerial berth to Muraleedharan who had demanded his ouster only a few days ago, Antony said: ‘‘Opposition is part of democracy. We are not (like) the CPI(M) in which dissent is not tolerated. In a democracy you cannot always work with your supporters alone,’’ he said.

Karunakaran loyalist Kadavoor Sivadasan vacated the Electricity portfolio for Muraleedharan and took charge of health from another ‘I’ group minister, P. Sankaran. Sankaran was given the charge of tourism, now held by K.V. Thomas who got Excise in addition to Fisheries.

Muraleedharan’s entry into the Cabinet marked an anti-climax in the factional drama in the state Congress as he had agreed to obey the high command diktat the same day his father threatened to split the party in the state a fortnight ago. Muraleedharan, who often backed his father’s demand for a leadership change in the state, had since then defended his decision to fall in line, holding that unity was crucial for the party when Lok sabha polls were round the corner.

The rise of 46-year-old Muraleedharan has been meteoric after he became active in the Congress in the late 1980s as state seva Dal Chief. He was made KPCC chief as part of a compromise formula in the faction-riven Congress state unit in May 2001, the same day Antony took charge as Chief Minister.