Karat says CM will be decided on Friday

New Delhi: The new chief minister of Kerala will be decided on Friday, CPI-M leader Prakash Karat said on Thursday after the Left returned to power in the state.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India-Marxist is set to win 91 of the 140 seats in the Kerala assembly.

Karat said the CPI-M would name its chief minister on Friday. "The state secretariat and state committee will meet in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow to elect a leader."

While a majority in the CPI-M in Kerala is known to support Pinarayi Vijayan, it remains to be seen if the national leadership wants to give a second term to 92-year-old V.S. Achuthanandan.

"It has been a wave and the people of Kerala have given a fitting reply to the corrupt (Oommen) Chandy government," Karat, a politburo member who hails from Kerala.

Achuthanandan meanwhile said in Kerala: "We will ensure that the state is put on the right track of governance. Our prime concern will be women's safety."

Said another CPI-M leader, K. Balakrishnan: "This is the verdict against the anti-people programmes of the UDF government."