Opinion

Congress High Command blinks before V D Satheesan

V D Satheesan’s assertive push for the top post has reportedly complicated consensus within the Congress leadership

May 10, 2026

Satheesan’s pressure politics delay the Congress CM decision

Even after a three-hour-long discussion held at Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in New Delhi on Saturday, the Congress leadership failed to take a decision on the name of the party leader who would be the next chief minister of Kerala.

“We have time till 23rd May, and the party High Command will decide on the name of the next chief minister of Kerala. The High Command means Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge,” said Deepa Munshi, the AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, who attended the meeting along with the two party observers and the three chief ministerial aspirants (K C Venugopal, Ramesh Chennithala, and V D Satheesan) and Sunny Joseph, president, KPCC.

While the party top brass did not give any clear indication of their choice, the three aspirants were directed to get the flex boards featuring the three contenders from all places in the state. Munshi expressed her anguish over the public display of support for the leaders by their fans. The leaders were also told to stop holding public rallies highlighting their favorite leaders.

Elsewhere in the state, a hitherto unknown entity by the name Team UDF has sprang up, reportedly under the patronage of V D Satheesan, who does not waste even a half-chance to make his claim that it was because of his leadership and hard work that the Congress could decimate the CPI(M) led LDF.

Sources close to the Congress High Command (read Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra, and Robert Vadra) told PGurus that the choice has been made, and it is K C Venugopal, the close confidante of the Gandhi family. “The leadership is trying to placate the aspirants because there is widespread fear that Satheesan is likely to spoil the victory of the UDF.” Said the source close to the High Command.

The Congress leadership has understood the truth that Satheesan was trying to rope in leaders of Muslim and Christian communities to prop up his name for the state’s top job. The public rallies held at Ernakulam, Aluva, and the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram were purportedly staged by Christians and extremist Islamic elements like Jamaat-e-Islami. Even bishops and padres who had played a major role in getting the Christian votes polarized in favor of the UDF were extending support to such rallies. The entire stretch from Kasaragod to Parassala (in Thiruvananthapuram) is adorned with festoons and flex boards featuring the pictures of Satheesan. His statement that Jamaat-e-Islami is a secular outfit and that it was Prophet Mohammed who invented the heliocentric theory has made him a darling of the Muslims. Satheesan also claimed during the campaign that nothing would happen to India even if all the Hindus embraced Islam.

Satheesan, while speaking to reporters at New Delhi after the three-hour meeting at the residence of old man Kharge that the Congress was quick and fast in taking decisions and the name of the chief minister of Kerala would be announced very quickly. He may not be aware of the swearing-in of Suvendu Adhikari as the chief minister of Bengal on Saturday morning. Results of the elections held in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam, and Bengal were announced on 4th May 2026!

Post Script: It was the adamant stance of Satheesan that he would not make any compromise on his demand that he should be made the chief minister, and the Congress top leadership had to blink before the Kerala leader.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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