Ending days of suspense over its choice for Kerala Chief Minister, the Congress’s national leadership on Thursday picked V D Satheesan for the post, overlooking AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and former state Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
“The Congress Legislature Party had met in Thiruvananthapuram on May 7 and had unanimously resolved to authorise the Congress president to appoint the new leader. Accordingly, it has been decided that V D Satheesan be appointed as the leader of the CLP,” AICC’s Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunsi announced.
A 360-degree turn
From tacitly allowing Venugopal a week ago to enter the CM race to picking Satheesan, the Congress high command’s 360-degree turn is unprecedented in its recent political history.
The first plot twist came on May 7, three days after Kerala gave the Congress-led UDF an unprecedented mandate of 102 seats. When a large number of MLAs took Venugopal’s name as their CM choice – 46 of 63 Congress MLAs preferred him – the high command remained silent. Satheesan had the support of 9 MLAs, according to insiders.
Public mobilisation changed the game
As the headcount became public, an unprecedented narrative started playing out: a public mobilisation and social media blitz in favour of Satheesan. Street protests, poster wars, flex boards, and social media sabre-rattling intensified.
The high command viewed this with scepticism initially, suspecting it was orchestrated. But the delay in arriving at a decision only strengthened Satheesan’s hand.
The IUML factor
What turned the tide was the stand of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which has 22 MLAs. The IUML preferred Satheesan because of the strong stance he took against majoritarianism and his position that community outfits should not meddle in politics.
On Wednesday, the IUML hardened its position, signalling it might not attend the alliance meeting. There was buzz that the IUML was thinking about providing outside support if it did not get its preferred CM.
Gandhi siblings step in
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi held over two hours of talks with Venugopal at Rahul’s residence. Venugopal argued that the party cannot break the tradition of giving weightage to MLAs’ views. But the Gandhis could not ignore the IUML’s pressure and the sentiment on the ground.
At stake was Rahul Gandhi and the Gandhi family’s image in Kerala. They did not want to be seen as taking sides in a contest where a leader close to Rahul had become a candidate.
The final decision
With Venugopal convinced to back out, senior leaders reached out to Chennithala. While Venugopal extended support to Satheesan, Chennithala decided to stay away from the CLP meeting.
The high command’s decision – factoring in public sentiment, ally pressure, and the need to protect the Gandhi family’s neutral image – marks a significant departure from the tradition of simply following the majority of MLAs. For Kerala, Satheesan’s aggressive leadership and anti-majoritarian stance now take centre stage.
