Shailaja enjoys mass appeal in the state, earned during her tenure as Health Minister through the Nipah outbreaks and, more significantly, the COVID-19 pandemic. This sets her apart even within a party that traditionally downplays the individual.
Published Jan 23, 2026 | 12:05 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 23, 2026 | 12:05 PM
Speculation about her potential as the Left’s chief ministerial candidate has surfaced periodically.
Synopsis: A brief moment outside the Kerala Assembly on 22 January, where former Health Minister KK Shailaja led the ruling front’s media briefing after a chaotic sitting, has sparked fresh political speculation ahead of the fast-approaching and crucial Assembly elections. Her prominence, despite the presence of senior CPI(M) leaders, is being seen as a potential test of her role as the public face of the front in the polls.
As a thick pre-Assembly election atmosphere continues to envelop Kerala, even seemingly ordinary developments are taking on political meaning.
One such moment on Thursday, 22 January, has left political circles in the state in a tizzy.
It was a disruptive day in the Assembly, with Opposition members storming the well of the House, holding placards, shouting slogans, and even breaking into parody songs to protest the alleged Sabarimala gold theft case.
The Assembly was soon adjourned. Traditionally, on such occasions, it is the Opposition that arrives first for media briefings. But this time, members of the treasury benches reached the gates first.
More striking was who did the talking: former Health Minister and CPI(M) Central Committee member KK Shailaja.
Having featured prominently in internal and public discussions ahead of the 2021 Assembly polls as a possible chief ministerial candidate, Shailaja’s central role in Thursday’s briefing—especially when other senior CPI(M) leaders, including State Secretary MV Govindan and LDF Convener TP Ramakrishnan, were present—is being read as a sign of the party recalibrating ahead of a crucial election cycle.
Shailaja enjoys mass appeal in the state, earned during her tenure as Health Minister through the Nipah outbreaks and, more significantly, the COVID-19 pandemic. This sets her apart even within a party that traditionally downplays the individual.
K K Shailaja briefing the media outside the Assembly on 22 January
Electorally, her credentials are strong. In 2016, she won the Kuthuparamba Assembly constituency, defeating JD(U)’s KP Mohanan by 12,291 votes.
In 2021, she won her current constituency, Mattanur, with a staggering margin of 60,963 votes—the highest in Kerala Assembly history.
Since then, speculation about her potential as the Left’s chief ministerial candidate has surfaced periodically, often from enthusiastic grassroots cadres.
In June 2024, reports emerged that senior CPI(M) leader P Jayarajan had remarked at an internal meeting that people wanted to see Shailaja as Chief Minister. Neither the party nor Jayarajan commented on it publicly.
But her most recent campaign cooled that speculation. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, she was fielded from Vadakara against the UDF’s Shafi Parambil, then an MLA from Palakkad.
The MLA-versus-MLA contest drew considerable attention. Shailaja lost by a hefty margin of 1,14,506 votes.
Amid all the speculation, political commentators and party insiders, however, see Shailaja’s supposed fronting differently.
A social media group that campaigns for K K Shailaja as a CM candidate
“There is nothing unusual in Shailaja briefing the media after a walkout. She is a central committee member and a senior leader,” Joseph C Mathew, a political commentator, told South First.
“To see this as her becoming the face of the CPI(M) is reading too much into it. Pinarayi Vijayan will lead the LDF for a third term. They cannot project anyone else.”
The Pinarayi-centric approach is both a strength and a limitation for the CPI(M), Mathew said.
“The entire strategy revolves around Pinarayi. There is no one else at that stature, and projecting another leader could even weaken the LDF,” he added.
More pointedly, a CPI(M) local committee member hinted that Shailaja might not even get a ticket to contest, let alone be the face of the party’s campaign.
“The real issue is whether Shailaja will even be given a third term,” he told South First.
Meanwhile, the Opposition saw the events very differently. Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan japed that the ruling coalition appeared to be “rehearsing for the next five years” on the Opposition benches.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
