After the deadlock for over a week on who would be appointed chief minister in Kerala following the Congress-led alliance’s resounding victory in the state, one question naturally emerges: how does the Congress decide its chief ministers?
Rahul Gandhi’s formula of choosing chief ministers has largely been based on a democratic process where the leader who is able to secure the support of a majority of MLAs within the Congress legislature party is eventually favoured by the high command. In other words, if a majority of legislators within the party back a particular leader, the party leadership tends to appoint that person as CM.
This was seen in Himachal Pradesh, where there was a stalemate between Pratibha Singh and Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. Eventually, the party went with Sukhu, who enjoyed the support of more legislators. A similar situation unfolded in Karnataka, where there was a tussle between D.K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah over the chief minister’s post, with the Congress eventually deciding in Siddaramaiah’s favour. Telangana, however, was comparatively straightforward, with Revanth Reddy emerging as the clear choice.
One of the earliest examples of this trend in recent years was seen in Rajasthan in 2008, when Sonia Gandhi was at the helm of the party affairs, the Congress chose Ashok Gehlot as chief minister. Gehlot was recognised for navigating the party through a hung assembly by securing the support of additional MLAs to cross the 100-mark of majority out of the 200 assembly seats and also commanding majority backing within the legislature party.
“Earlier, Sonia Gandhi would not necessarily have decided based on this standard. She would choose whoever the leadership felt was best suited for the role. At that time, the Congress high command was also much more powerful. This changed during Rahul Gandhi’s time, when he sought to make the process more democratic. The trend has strengthened since Rahul’s arrival as a top decision-maker,” a senior party insider said.
So why did the Congress choose V.D. Satheesan when it was widely believed that K.C. Venugopal enjoyed the support of a majority of MLAs?
It is important to note that Venugopal as the AICC general secretary (organisation) and MP from Kerala, performed a key role in distributing tickets. Giving tickets to those loyal to him!
Party insiders say that, going by the broader democratic approach Rahul Gandhi believes in, the Congress leadership, besides considering the MLAs, also took into account the mood of the lower rung of cadre, public sentiment in Kerala, and the preference of alliance partner IUML, all of whom were seen as favouring Satheesan. The high command, therefore, decided in his favour.
During Rahul Gandhi’s tenure, what is considered one of the first instances where the views of a majority of MLAs were not the determining factor was in Punjab, where Charanjit Singh Channi, a Dalit leader, was appointed chief minister after the ouster of Captain Amarinder Singh. However, party leaders describe that as an “arrangement decision” taken mid-term rather than a post-election leadership choice after a victory.