A K Antony, former Kerala chief minister, was the Defence Minister in the first UPA government. He is expected to retain the same profile again.

Antony became the youngest chief minister of Kerala as a 37-year-old in 1977. It took him more than 15 years to become the chief minister again, this time for a year between 1995 and 1996.

He is widely perceived to be honest in the Union Government.

Sixty-six-year-old Antony's squeaky clean image had earlier helped him stay on top of Kerala politics before he got caught in the factional politics.