Congress leader Oommen Chandy was on Tuesday sworn in as the 19th chief minister of Kerala in a smooth transition of power after the resignation of A K Antony from the post two days ago.

At a simple function at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram, Governor R L Bhatia administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chandy and four other nominees of the ruling UDF coalition.

Leaders of Kerala Congress-B and Kerala Congress-J and RSP-B, however, did not find a berth in the Cabinet, which is to be expanded in the coming days.

While Kerala Congress factions had been kept out for the time being due to stiff resistance from Congress leaders, the two-member RSP-B suffered a split following sharp differences in the choice of nominee for the Cabinet berth.

The ministers who took oath along with the chief minister were P K Kunhalikutty (IUML), K M Mani (KC-M), K R Gowri (JSS) and M V Raghavan (CMP).

Marking a new phase in the Congress politics in the state, which was centred round K Karunakaran and Antony for the last three decades, Chandy was unanimously elected CLP leader yesterday.

While Chandy's elevation was widely cheered, the split in the RSP-B and uncertainty over the inclusion of KC-J and KC-B nominees cast a shadow over the government formation.

AICC observers Pranab Mukherjee, Ahmed Patel, Anil Shastri and Margaret Alva, outgoing Chief Minister A K Antony and K Karunakaran were among the leaders who attended the swearing-in ceremony.