The suspense over the Congress’s chief ministerial candidate continued in Kerala on Sunday, with the party high command yet to announce its decision, amid hectic lobbying by the camps of three top contenders – V D Sathisean, Ramesh Chennithala and KC Venugopal.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Sathisean in a bid to end the impasse that has persisted since the Congress-led United Democratic Front swept the assembly elections in the southern state on May 4, over the appointment of the next prime minister.
“We are waiting for the high command to take a decision. It may take a few days,” a leader close to Chennithala told HT, requesting anonymity.
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Sathisan (61), Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Chennithala (69), a former minister and former MLA, and Venugopal (63), general secretary of the AICC (organization) and Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha, are seen as the main contenders for the chief minister’s post. While Sathisan and Chennithala won from their respective constituencies of Paravur and Haripad in the recently held elections, Venugopal did not contest the elections.
A day ago, senior Congress officers held a meeting in Delhi to discuss government formation in Kerala. The meeting held by party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence was attended by Gandhi, AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi, general secretary (organisation) Venugopal and senior leaders from the state Chennithala and Satyasan. On Sunday, Sathisan and Chennithala returned to Kerala while Venugopal remained in the capital.
According to two leaders familiar with the details, in the meeting with Gandhi, Satheesan did not back down from his demand for the top job and said that in the last two years he has been steadily devoting himself to reviving the party in the state after the shocking defeat in the 2021 Lok Sabha elections and led the Congress party’s attacks against the government in the Assembly.
A large number of party legislators, MPs and former state unit chiefs appear to be supporting Venugopal for the chief minister’s post, said one of the two leaders cited above. “Sathesan said he has never been involved in any groups and fears that when the time comes, Venugopal, using his influence as secretary general (of the organization), will become the chief minister,” the leader added.
Another leader said that although a large number of legislators and MLAs support Venugopal, Satheesan has strong support from “people in the organisation”.
“The Congress leadership has to take a decision on ‘kis kobanana hai aur kis ko mañana hai!’ (Who helps and who appeases).”
The Congress leadership has sent senior leaders Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken as observers to hold discussions with the newly elected legislators to decide on the CM’s face. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) passed a resolution authorizing the high command to take a decision on the post of Prime Minister.
The senior leader’s camp is optimistic that the high command will choose him because of his past administrative experience and good relations with leaders of caste groups, said the leader close to Chennithala mentioned above. However, leaders close to the central leadership pointed out that the competition is primarily between Sathisan and Venugopal. A third Delhi Congress leader said Chennithala might be offered the post of Speaker.
