Why Congress Chose V. D. Satheesan as Kerala Chief Minister

By MANISH ANAND

The Congress leadership’s decision to appoint V. D. Satheesan as Kerala Chief Minister after prolonged internal consultations is being interpreted as both a political reward and a strategic generational shift within the party.

New Delhi, May 14, 2026 — The Congress took 11 days to decide on the next Kerala Chief Minister. But the choice of V. D. Satheesan as the next Chief Minister of Kerala is gaining praise for political wisdom by the party leadership.

Congress president Mallikarjuna Kharge held three rounds of meetings with party leader Rahul Gandhi on the issue of choosing the next CM of Kerala. In the end, Kharge reportedly asked Gandhi to take a call. This put Gandhi in a spot, for he’s widely known to be close to K. C. Venugopal, Congress (general secretary), who had been seen openly putting pressure on the party leadership as the race for the next CM built on.

Veteran political observer R. Narayanan, while writing in The Raisina Hills, had indicated that the Congress could back Satheesan for the CM post in Kerala. “V. D. Satheesan is widely perceived as the public face of the electoral victory of the Congress — a leader who directly contested, who suffered all the pressures and insults poured on him by Left leaders and who aggressively led the opposition campaign and became closely associated with the energy and emotional legitimacy of the mandate itself,” Narayanan wrote in The Raisina Hills earlier.

While being the face of the Opposition in Kerala, Satheesan (61) is also younger than two other claimants of the post — Venugopal (63) and Ramesh Chennnithala (69). On the age criteria, the Congress has sought to dispel the notion that the party keeps younger leaders waiting for bigger responsibility. The Congress has been backing Siddaramaiah (77) as the Karnataka Chief Minister. D. K. Shivakumar (63) is widely seen as seeking the nod of the party to become the Chief Minister of Karnataka.

By not yielding to Venugopal’s pressure, the Congress has signalled that the party needs him for organisational role. Incidentally, Venugopal hold the position of general secretary (organisation) in the Congress. Similar post in the BJP is held by an RSS functionary with a long tenure.

Chennnithala may have missed out on the age factor. At an age of 69, he is seen weaker as the Congress aims to give a long innings to the next CM. Unlike in the past, the Congress has been giving stability to incumbent CMs from its ranks.

“Chennnithala was a grassroot worker, who became youngest minister at the age of 28 years. He held the Home Ministry portfolio under the Oomen Chandy government, during 2014-16, and as an LoP from 2016-21 he exposed Sprinkler data scam, E-Mobility Bus scam, AI Camera scam, etc. and kept the ruling Left under the check. He was also a four-time MP,” wrote Narayanan in The Raisina Hills.

Key Takeaways:

• Congress leadership took 11 days to finalise Kerala CM choice
• Rahul Gandhi reportedly played the decisive role after consultations with Mallikarjuna Kharge
• Satheesan was viewed as the public face of Congress’s anti-Left campaign in Kerala
• The choice signals Congress preference for relatively younger leadership
• K. C. Venugopal is expected to continue in a key organisational role
• Ramesh Chennithala may have lost out partly due to age and succession considerations

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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