Short of quorum, Kerala cabinet faces CM's ire

Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 12 : Days after falling short of quorum to hold a cabinet meeting, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday asked his cabinet to ensure that all are in attendance for five days a week.

The dressing down came after Vijayan faced severe flak for failing to proceed with the cabinet meeting on Friday as the prescribed cabinet strength was not met.

The special cabinet was called to claer 10 ordinances for Governor P. Sathasivam's approval.

However as only six cabinet members were present, including Vijayan, the Chief Minister was forced to call off the meeting.

As per the convention, the prescribed quorum in Kerala is fixed as majority of the cabinet. The strength of the present state cabinet, including Vijayan, is 19.

Soon after assuming office in May 2016, Vijayan had asked his colleagues to ensure that all of them be present in the state capital for five days a week. 

However, after a while, that was scaled down to four. Despite that, just six were present on February 9.

On Friday after word went around that the cabinet meeting could not take place for want of quorum, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party opposition came down heavily on Vijayan and the way he was governing the state.