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‘Blunder poster’ to IUML push: Three reasons why Congress picked VD Satheesan to be new Kerala CM
One of the biggest reasons behind Satheesan’s elevation was the backing he received from key UDF allies, especially the Indian Union Muslim League.
After days of hectic backchannel negotiations, factional lobbying and intense power play within the Congress, the party finally picked VD Satheesan as the next chief minister of Kerala on Thursday.
The announcement, made in New Delhi by AICC Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi, brought the curtain down on a bruising power struggle between Satheesan, KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala. Track latest updates on Kerala CM decision
But from slogan-shouting workers on the streets of Wayanad to warning posters aimed at Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Rahul Gandhi’s 40-minute meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge – the decision for Kerala’s top post was not an easy one.
1. The IUML push
One of the biggest reasons behind Satheesan’s elevation was the backing he received from key UDF allies, especially the Indian Union Muslim League.
The IUML, which has 22 legislators in the UDF camp, strongly supported Satheesan, arguing that the alliance’s sweeping victory was a validation of the political line he had pursued as leader of Opposition over the last five years.
Other allies too closed ranks behind him. The Kerala Congress (Joseph), which has seven MLAs, and the Revolutionary Socialist Party with three legislators also backed Satheesan.
For the Congress high command, ignoring the IUML’s position was never going to be easy. The IUML has long acted as the Congress’s organisational backbone in several parts of Kerala and played a key role in Rahul Gandhi’s landslide victories from Wayanad in 2019 and 2024, and later in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s bypoll win from the constituency.
2. Grassroots pressure
In the days after the May 4 election results, Congress workers across Kerala staged demonstrations demanding that Satheesan be made chief minister. Protesters argued that the face who led the Opposition campaign against the LDF government should also lead the new administration.
In the Kerala elections, of the alliance’s 102 seats, the Congress won 63. The IUML secured 22 seats, Kerala Congress eight and the RSP three.
The pressure became particularly visible in Wayanad, where posters surfaced outside district Congress offices and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s MP office warning the leadership against backing Venugopal.
One of the posters read, “Mr Rahul, KC might be your bag bearer, but people of Kerala will never forgive you.”
Another warned, “Wayanad will be next Amethi.”
A third poster said, “RG and PG, Kerala will never forgive you for this blunder.”
The public messaging reflected the mood among sections of the Congress cadre, many of whom viewed Satheesan as the leader who connected best with the party base and the broader anti-LDF sentiment in the state.
3. Political reality
Behind the scenes, intense lobbying continued among camps backing V D Satheesan, K C Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala as the Congress leadership weighed both organisational equations and political optics before taking a final call.
Another factor that worked against Venugopal was the perception within several political camps that he was seen more as a Delhi-based organisational leader from Kerala rather than a mass leader rooted in the state’s day-to-day politics.
According to a senior Congress leader, Venugopal — the AICC general secretary (organisation) and Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha — remained the preferred choice of sections of the central leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi. However, Satheesan steadily gained the upper hand because of the strong public backing he enjoyed, along with support from party workers, state leaders and key alliance partners.
To break the deadlock, the Congress leadership deputed senior leaders Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken as observers to Kerala for consultations with newly elected legislators. Eventually, the Congress Legislature Party passed a resolution authorising the party high command to take the final decision on the chief minister’s post.
The final decision came after Rahul Gandhi held a nearly 40-minute meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday, following which the party signalled that the consultations had concluded.
