The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Kerala on Thursday met at the party headquarters, Indira Bhavan, here, following the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) decisive victory in the state assembly elections and passed a resolution authorising the party high command to make the final decision on the Chief Minister’s post.
The meeting of the 63 newly elected Congress MLAs passed a one-line resolution authorising AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the Congress Legislature Party leader. The resolution presented by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC )President Sunny Joseph was supported by Opposition Leader in the outgoing assembly, V.D. Satheesan. The party high command’s observers, Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik, were also present at the meeting.
The one-on-one consultations with the 63 newly elected Congress MLAs began immediately following the unanimous resolution passed at Indira Bhavan. AICC observers Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken, along with general secretary in charge of the state Deepa Das Munshi, are currently recording 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 was not accepted.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, Opposition leader in the outgoing assembly V.D. Satheesan and former KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala are top contenders for the Chief Minister’s post.
The AICC observers are meeting each MLA individually in closed-door sessions to ensure they express their preferences without any external pressure. Apart from the MLAs, the observers also held discussions with senior state leaders, including former KPCC chiefs V.M. Sudheeran, K Sudhakaran, and the aspirants. The team is also scheduled to meet with key UDF allies—including the IUML and Kerala Congress factions—to ensure the coalition is aligned with the final choice.
The observers will submit a detailed report to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. The official announcement of the Chief Minister will be made from Delhi based on the report submitted by the observers. It is learnt that the Chief Minister’s name will be announced by Sunday.
Meanwhile, V.D. Satheesan has tightened his claim to the Chief Minister’s post. Satheesan has reportedly adopted a firm “all-or-nothing” stance regarding the Chief Minister’s post, stating that if he is not chosen for the role, he will not accept any other position in the new UDF government. He made this known during his first meeting with the observers. VD Satheesan said that administrative experience is not a criterion in determining the Chief Minister’s name.
In an interview with a national media, Satheesan countered arguments that his rivals might be better suited due to their ministerial experience. He cited two prominent examples to support his stance, noting that veteran CPM leader VS Achuthanandan became the Chief Minister of Kerala in 2006 without having served as a minister previously. He also pointed out that Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 without any prior experience in a legislative body or ministry.
Satheesan argued that a leader’s vision and ability to build a team are more critical than their past administrative record.