Former Kerala Health minister KK Shailaja, who earned praise for her handling of the Covid-19 crisis, has been dropped from the new cabinet, and removing her at a crucial time has raised many eyebrows. This was after she won by over 60,000 votes in the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections.

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Shailaja, who is also a retired teacher, became popular after doing stellar work in containing the spread of COVID-19 in the initial phase of the pandemic, in the state of Kerala. In the course of her tenure, she has battled the Nipah virus outbreak in 2018, which claimed 17 lives in Kerala, and then the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will be the only person who will be repeated in the new cabinet. “No one from the earlier LDF ministry is part of the new ministry except for the Chief Minister. This is our party decision. Only our party has the courage to do so. Many top performers were also not allowed to contest elections. We want new faces," AN Shamsheer, a CPM MLA, told NDTV.

According to several reports surfacing online, MV Govindan, K Radhakrishnan, KN Balagopal, P Rajeev, VN Vasavan, Saji Cherian, V Sivankutty, Mohd Riyas, Dr. R Bindu, Veena George, and V Abdul Rahman will be a part of the new cabinet.

KK Shailaja's exclusion from the cabinet has drawn extreme reactions as people are calling it a rather sexist move. Even Congress leader Shashi Tharoor reacted to this news saying, “Sorry to see Shailaja Teacher leave the Kerala cabinet. Aside from her reputed competence and efficiency, I always found her helpful, responsive, and accessible as Health Minister, especially during the #Covid crisis. She will be missed.”

© Shashi Tharoor Twitter

People are finding it hard to digest the fact that she has been axed despite winning by a huge margin. Here’s how people have been reacting on Twitter:

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Do you agree with people’s opinions? Let us know in the comments section below.

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