Cong gives in,IUML gets 5th Cabinet berth

After discussions with the IUML leaders,Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said all parties have climbed down from their earlier stand to end the deadlock. The fifth minister for the IUML was a political decision,which cannot be seen as injustice to any community,he said.

Chandy said the portfolio of the newly-inducted minister would be carved out from various departments held by the four IUML ministers.

Upper class Hindu Nair community leader Sukumaran Nair said the Congress has failed to understand the sentiments of the Hindus.

Earlier,the Congress had mulled the option of giving the Speakers post to IUML after increasing the Hindu representation in the Cabinet. But Speaker G Karthikeyan,a Congress leader,was not ready for any other rehabilitation in the Cabinet or the party. The move to accommodate the IUML came under sharp criticism from within the Congress. On Wednesday,during the final round of discussion,the Congress could not stick to its stand.