The car assigned to young Kerala minister O.J. Janeesh carries a number that is far from ordinary. It matches his winning margin in the Kodungallur constituency – 8308.

Janeesh, who is expected to take charge of the Sports Ministry, received a vehicle with the registration number ending in 8308, exactly the majority he secured in the recent Kerala assembly elections. The coincidence was first noticed not by the minister himself, but by his wife Sreelakshmi.

Adding to the intrigue, the official number on the vehicle is 10 – the iconic jersey number of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar and football star Lionel Messi.

New ministers in Kerala have not been provided with brand new vehicles. Instead, they have been allocated cars previously used by ministers in the former LDF government. The black cars once used by former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were not given to any of the current ministers. It remains unclear whether those vehicles will be assigned to Vijayan when he assumes the role of Opposition Leader.

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan received the car previously used by V.N. Vasavan, which was the last vehicle purchased by the previous government.

Until 2006, most ministers were assigned Ambassador cars. During the Oommen Chandy government in 2004, ministers began requesting and purchasing other car models. Later, Innova became the standard ministerial vehicle, and in 2016, the Innova Crysta was adopted. In 2022, then-Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan added the Kia Carnival to the official fleet alongside the Innova Crysta. All of these vehicles were black.