Thiruvananthapuram, May 18 -- Senior Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, Sunny Joseph and K Muraleedharan on Monday took oath as ministers in the new V D Satheesan-led Keralam government, as the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) formally returned to power in the state after a decade.

Chennithala, who was among the frontrunners for the Chief Minister's post before the Congress high command picked VD Satheesan as leader of the legislature party, took oath after Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader PK Kunhalikutty, who was the first minister to be sworn in after Satheesan.

Keralam Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office to Satheesan and his 20-member Council of Ministers at the Central Stadium in ...