Ending days-long speculations, the Congress high command on Thursday announced that party leader V.D. Satheesan will be the next Kerala chief minister.
Congress general secretaries Jairam Ramesh and Deepa Dasmunsi made the announcement at a press meet held at the party headquarters in Delhi.
The race for the top post was among three senior Congress leaders: Ramesh Chennithala, Satheesan and K.C. Venugopal.
The decision was taken after intense internal consultations following the party’s impressive performance in polls where the UDF alliance secured 102 seats in the 140-member House. There has been much suspense over the CM face before the polls, and it got intensified after the election results on May 4.
The party’s central leadership has been engaged in wide-ranging discussions with senior leaders, elected representatives and alliance partners before arriving at a final consensus ever since the announcement of results.
Satheesan was seen as enjoying strong grassroots backing among UDF workers and reportedly had the support of key ally IUML. His supporters argued that elevating Venugopal could trigger two politically sensitive by-elections, one to bring him into the assembly and another for the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat vacated by him. They had noted that this was an avoidable electoral risk in the current political climate.
Venugopal’s camp, however, had maintained that the AICC general secretary enjoys the backing of a majority of newly elected MLAs and several Kerala MPs. His proximity to the central leadership also made him a desirable candidate for the post, according to report. The presence of Congress working presidents in Delhi also fuelled speculation that his camp had significant organisational backing.
Meanwhile, Chennithala’s supporters pushed the seniority argument, highlighting his decades of loyalty to the party and the Nehru-Gandhi family,and his organisational experience from his days in the National Students' Union of India and Youth Congress. They had argued that denying him the top post at this stage would be unfair to one of the party’s most steadfast leaders.