A week after Kerala delivered a convincing verdict for the Congress-led UDF, the party is yet to settle the most basic question — who will be the Chief Minister. The impasse has hardened, and the man at the centre of it, Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, has made his position unambiguous. Sources close to him say he will not accept anything less than the top job. The problem for Congress is that the top job is precisely what the central leadership has in mind for someone else.
The Three Names And Deadlock
The Congress high command, including Rahul Gandhi, is understood to favour KC Venugopal, a Rahul loyalist and senior leader who also has the backing of the state’s legislators. According to an NDTV report, under the envisioned arrangement, Satheesan would serve as a key minister in Venugopal’s cabinet, while Ramesh Chennithala, another aspirant for the chief minister’s post, could be appointed Speaker of the Legislative Assembly.
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As per the reports, Satheesan has rejected this outright. He is not merely the preference of his own supporters within the party. He is also the choice of the IUML, the Congress’s most significant ally in Kerala and a key constituent of the UDF. Disregarding both the majority opinion within the legislative party and the wishes of a principal alliance partner is not a straightforward proposition for the high command, and Satheesan knows it.
Shades Of Karnataka
The situation is drawing uncomfortable comparisons within the party to the Karnataka impasse of 2023, when the chief minister’s post became a prolonged point of friction between Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar. That tussle did not end cleanly; it merely went underground, producing a relationship between the two leaders and their camps that has been marked by unending tension ever since. The Congress leadership is acutely aware that it cannot afford a repeat in Kerala.
Pressure Tactics And High Command Displeasure
The contest is playing out on the streets as much as in private conversations. Posters and cutouts of Venugopal have been going up at party offices in Thiruvananthapuram, signalling the direction the central leadership is leaning. Satheesan’s loyalists, in response, have been organising protests and demonstrations, a visible show of strength designed to make Delhi think twice.
Reports say the party high command is already irritated by the pressure tactics being deployed by both Satheesan and Chennithala, and the open display of competing ambitions has not gone down well with the central leadership.
The Venugopal Problem
There is also a practical complication attached to the Venugopal option that the party cannot ignore. If he is appointed Chief Minister, he will need to contest an assembly by-election to become a member of the state legislature. Simultaneously, his Lok Sabha seat would fall vacant, triggering a second by-election. For a party that has just come through an exhausting round of state elections, managing two additional polls in quick succession is an added burden nobody is enthusiastic about.
Time Running Out
Rahul Gandhi has convened a meeting with former presidents and working presidents of the Kerala Congress to try to break the deadlock. A senior Congress leader in Delhi, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the decision carried significant weight and that deliberating carefully would not cause lasting harm. He pointed to the fact that the tenure of the outgoing Kerala assembly runs until 23 May, giving the party a narrow but workable window to find a resolution.
Whether that window is enough, and whether Satheesan can be persuaded to stand down or the high command finds the courage to override him, is the question that will define Kerala’s political opening act.
