Published May 07, 2026 | 7:23 PM ⚊ Updated May 07, 2026 | 7:23 PM
KC Venugopal, VD Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala
Synopsis: Four days after the UDF’s sweeping victory, the Congress remains locked in an intense internal battle over who should become Kerala’s next Chief Minister, with VD Satheesan, KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala each drawing support from different power centres within the party. As the high command weighs political momentum, organisational backing and coalition equations, the bigger challenge may lie not in choosing the leader, but in keeping the party united after the decision.
Four days after the election verdict handed the Congress-led UDF a decisive mandate, the party still does not have an answer to the question dominating Kerala politics: who will be the next Chief Minister?
As lobbying intensifies and backroom deliberations continue in the state capital, the central leadership is under growing pressure to settle the issue quickly and prevent the uncertainty from dragging on.
The Congress’ central and state leadership is walking a political tightrope with little room for error.
AICC observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik have begun sounding out senior leaders, newly elected MLAs, MPs and alliance partners. The exercise is expected to culminate in a final decision on the next Chief Minister by Sunday.
Three names remain firmly in contention—VD Satheesan, KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala—each backed by competing arguments within the party.
Venugopal may currently hold an edge in the numbers game, but the camps aligned with Satheesan and Chennithala are far from conceding ground.
Satheesan’s supporters insist the leadership must look beyond headcounts and weigh political momentum and public perception. Chennithala’s camp is pressing the case for seniority and administrative experience.
For the central leadership, the challenge is no longer limited to choosing a Chief Minister.
The tougher task could begin after the decision is made: containing disappointment, balancing rival camps and preventing the aftershocks of a contest that has already exposed the party’s internal fault lines.
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From the morning itself, Indira Bhavan, the Congress state office, wore the look of a party caught between celebration and suspense.
Congress workers and supporters began arriving early, crowding the premises long before the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting commenced.
The mood was layered. There was visible excitement over the UDF’s emphatic mandate, but conversations quickly returned to one question: which senior leader would finally emerge as Chief Minister?
Groups of workers gathered outside the gates, raising slogans for their preferred leaders. Posters and flex boards backing different contenders had already appeared across parts of the state.
Inside the headquarters, newly elected MLAs moved in and out of closed-door discussions while central observers prepared for a long day of consultations.
At the same time, another political scene was unfolding quietly at the Taj Vivanta, where AICC observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik were staying.
Senior Congress leaders streamed into the hotel through the morning for private meetings with the observers.
One of the earliest and most closely watched meetings was with VD Satheesan, one of the main contenders in the chief ministerial race.
MPs including K Sudhakaran, Kodikunnil Suresh, MK Raghavan and Benny Behanan also met the observers, along with veterans such as VM Sudheeran and PJ Kurien.
Even before formal consultations with MLAs began, the intense behind-the-scenes lobbying had made it clear that the contest for the top post was entering a decisive phase.
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The CLP meeting began at around 11 am.
The CLP passed the expected one-line resolution authorising AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the Chief Minister.
The resolution, moved by KPCC President Sunny Joseph and supported by Opposition Leader VD Satheesan, formally handed the decision to the high command.
According to Abin Varkey, MLA-designate from Aranmula, “the resolution is a mandate for the central leadership to announce the decision and all in the state leadership as well as party workers and supporters are to acknowledge it.”
Central observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik immediately began consultations with MLAs and MPs. AICC Kerala in-charge Deepa Das Munshi also joined the discussions despite objections from a section aligned with Satheesan.
At the centre of the contest is a politically loaded argument from Satheesan’s supporters: the leader who carried the UDF to victory should also head the government.
His supporters point to his five-year tenure as Opposition Leader, saying his interventions inside and outside the Assembly revived the Congress-led front.
They also credit him with energising the UDF through successive victories in by-elections, local body polls, Lok Sabha elections and, finally, the Assembly polls.
Leaders emerging from meetings with the observers carefully avoided naming favourites in public, but their signals were clear.
Senior leaders and MLA-designates, including Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, N Sakthan, and newly elected MLAs Sandeep Varrier and AD Thomas, said they had conveyed their views clearly to the observers.
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The day’s clearest political message came from Satheesan himself.
According to party sources, he told the observers that if he was denied the Chief Minister’s post, he would neither join the cabinet nor accept a compromise arrangement.
He is understood to have said he was prepared to continue as an ordinary MLA rather than serve in another role.
That effectively shut down a compromise formula floated informally within the party.
The proposal, reportedly backed by K Sudhakaran, involved making KC Venugopal Chief Minister while assigning key portfolios to Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala.
Satheesan’s supporters believe ignoring him after the election victory could trigger resentment within the party and among UDF supporters.
Rival camps have questioned Satheesan’s lack of administrative experience. His supporters have countered that leadership cannot be measured only through ministerial exposure.
They pointed to Satheesan’s recent remarks in an interview with the Indian Express, where he questioned the relevance of prior administrative experience.
“Administrative experience is not an issue. VS Achuthanandan – what was his administrative experience? When Narendra Modi became Gujarat CM, what was his administrative experience?” Satheesan said, arguing that leadership vision and team-building mattered more.
Even as Satheesan’s camp leaned on public sentiment and alliance backing, the camp led by Venugopal focused on organisational strength and numbers within the legislature party.
Leaders aligned with Venugopal claim he has the support of a majority of Congress MLAs and MPs.
One KPCC leader claimed that more than 50 MLAs backed Venugopal. The Congress has 63 MLAs.
K Sudhakaran also appeared to tilt towards the Venugopal camp without openly naming him.
In a pointed remark aimed at Satheesan supporters, he said there was “not just one Satheesan in the Congress, but many Satheesans”.
Sudhakaran maintained that the Chief Minister should enjoy the confidence of MLAs as well as party workers and leaders.
Some senior leaders also reportedly questioned whether Venugopal should have entered the race at all.
They are understood to have told the observers that the high command had earlier discouraged MPs from contesting Assembly elections. Against that backdrop, they said Venugopal’s claim appeared politically awkward given his central organisational position in the party.
Venugopal, however, is learnt to have told supporters that he was not withdrawing from the contest.
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The third pole in the contest remains Ramesh Chennithala.
Though his camp has stayed relatively quiet, supporters continue to push seniority and administrative experience as factors working in his favour.
His recent meeting with Sonia Gandhi in Delhi has further fuelled speculation, though he publicly maintained that the discussion centred on organisational matters in Maharashtra.
Senior leaders including VM Sudheeran and PJ Kurien also reminded observers about the bitterness created in 2021, when Chennithala was replaced as Opposition Leader by Satheesan despite reportedly enjoying greater support among MLAs.
Observers are also expected to weigh the views of UDF allies before finalising their report.
Parties including the Indian Union Muslim League, Kerala Congress (Joseph) and the Revolutionary Socialist Party are believed to favour Satheesan. That has strengthened his camp’s argument that coalition chemistry matters as much as numbers within the Congress Legislature Party.
For now, the Congress has officially projected calm. Unofficially, every camp has begun counting numbers, testing loyalties and shaping narratives.
The observers are expected to submit their report to Delhi after completing consultations with MLAs, MPs and allies. The final decision will rest with the Congress high command.
By the time the announcement comes—likely by Sunday—the party leadership will have to answer the question dominating Kerala politics: should the Chief Minister be the man who led the victory campaign, the leader with organisational backing, or the leader with seniority?
A senior Congress leader tracking the developments admitted that the real challenge for the party may begin only after the high command announces its decision.
“If the leadership looks only at numbers inside the legislature party and ignores the emotions of workers, allies and senior leaders, the damage may not be immediate – but it will stay beneath the surface. The two leaders who miss out cannot be treated as afterthoughts. Both have their own followers, their own political standing and years invested in the party. The Congress state unit has paid a price before for leaving wounds unattended after leadership battles. Nobody wants a repeat of that at a time when the UDF has returned to power with such a decisive mandate,” the leader said.
Another senior functionary said the leadership was aware that the decision carried consequences.
“This is not just about selecting a Chief Minister. The party also has to ensure that the camps which lose the race still feel respected within the power structure. If that balance is lost, dissatisfaction will quietly travel from the top leadership to district committees and booth-level workers. That is where the problems will begin,” he said.
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Key UDF allies clarified their positions after meeting the AICC observers.
Indian Union Muslim League leader PK Kunhalikutty maintained secrecy over the discussions, saying the party’s official stand had already been conveyed to the observers.
“I cannot tell you anything more,” he told reporters, adding that constituent parties generally favoured a decision that respects public sentiment and recognises how the front was led during the elections.
Senior Kerala Congress (Joseph) leader PJ Joseph urged the Congress leadership to complete the Chief Minister selection process without delay.
While making it clear that his party had not suggested any specific name for the post, Joseph said the high command should take a decision that reflects the sentiments of the people of Kerala.
He added that the party would accept any decision taken by the Congress leadership, provided the new Chief Minister prioritises Kerala’s interests and aspirations.
Pala MLA-designate Mani C Kappan also remained guarded after meeting the observers.
Kappan said he had conveyed his position clearly to the AICC team but did not wish to disclose it publicly. When asked whether the discussions revolved around any particular leader, he avoided a direct answer and said he had only shared his views on the broader political situation within the party.
The RSP also extended unconditional support to the Congress leadership on the issue.
After meeting observers Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken at the Vivanta Hotel, RSP leader Shibu Baby John said the party would accept whoever the Congress high command chose as Chief Minister.
Leaders including NK Premachandran, AA Aziz and Babu Divakaran attended the discussions. The RSP clarified that it had not proposed any candidate and viewed the leadership selection as an internal Congress matter.
Ajay Maken, one of the two AICC observers, said the Congress Legislature Party meeting had unanimously passed a one-line resolution authorising the Congress president to take the final call on the leadership issue.
He said the party was “fully confident” after the historic mandate handed to the Congress-led UDF by the people of Kerala.
According to Maken, the observers personally interacted with every MLA to understand their individual opinions, concerns and political interests before preparing the final report.
He added that the high command was giving serious importance to the personal views of legislators while deciding the next Chief Minister and CLP leader.
He, however, did not specify when the final decision would be announced.
