As the two Congress observers appointed to seek the opinion of newly-elected MLAs, submitted their report to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday, the selection for the state’s next Chief Minister has entered the final stage with the Congress high command summoning the leaders vying for the post to Delhi
The report submitted by AICC observers Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge summarizes the individual preferences of the 63 newly elected Congress MLAs, alongside feedback from MPs and alliance partners.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Opposition leader in the outgoing assembly VD Satheesan, and former KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala are the contenders for the chief minister’s post. The high command has summoned all three of them to Delhi. They have asked Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala to reach Delhi on Saturday for discussion while Venugopal is already in Delhi.
KPCC President Sunny Joseph was also asked to reach Delhi on Saturday. Once all these leaders arrive in Delhi, the crucial discussion on selecting the chief minister will be held on Saturday.
The observers’ report states that a majority of the MLAs support K C Venugopal. It also contains the positions of senior leaders whose public sentiment should be considered. The observers informed Kharge that the situation in the state is complex.
It has been reported that 47 of the 63 newly-elected Congress MLAs proposed Venugopal’s name as the next Kerala chief minister during their one-to-one meetings with AICC’s central observers on Thursday. Chennithala has the backing of eight MLAs-elect, while Satheesan, projected as the popular choice for the post, has the backing of six. Two legislators have reportedly opted to leave the final decision entirely to the high command without naming a specific preference. It is learnt that three former KPCC chiefs supported Satheesan while several senior leaders backed Venugopal.