The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Kerala, in a meeting at the party headquarters here on Thursday, following the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) decisive victory in the state assembly elections, passed a resolution authorizing the party high command to take a final decision on the Chief Minister’s post.
The meeting of the 63 newly-elected Congress MLAs passed the one-line resolution authorizing AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the Congress Legislature Party leader. The resolution presented by Kerala Pradesh Congess Committee (KPCC) President Sunny Joseph was supported by V. D. Satheesan, the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly. The high command’s observers, Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik, attended the meeting.
The one-on-one consultations with the 63 Congress MLAs began immediately after the unanimous resolution at Indira Bhavan. Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken, along with Deepadas Munshi, general secretary in charge of the state, recorded the elected MLAs preferences to gauge support for the three main contenders. The Satheesan camp had earlier demanded that Deepa Das Munshi be excluded from the meeting with observers and MLAs. However, it is learnt that this has not been accepted.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, Satheesan, former KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala are the top contenders for the chief minister’s post.
The Observers met each MLA individually in a closed-door session to ensure they can express their preference without external pressure. Beyond the MLAs, the observers have already held discussions with senior state leaders, including former KPCC chiefs V.M. Sudheeran, K. Sudhakaran, and the aspirants themselves. The team also made consultations with key UDF allies—including the IUML and Kerala Congress factions—to know their opinion and to ensure the coalition is aligned with the final choice