Kerala Chief Minister-designate VD Satheesan on Thursday said he visited senior Congress leader VM Sudheeran to seek his blessings after the Congress formally declared him the next chief minister following the UDF’s landslide victory in the 2026 Assembly elections.
Speaking to reporters, Sathisan said, “I have come to seek the blessings of VM Sudheeran. He is like a mentor to me. I have been fortunate to serve as Vice President when he was President. He is someone who has the authority to reprimand and correct me.”
Earlier in the day, the Congress officially announced that V D Sathiseyan, whose leadership helped the United Democratic Front alliance return to power in Kerala, has been appointed chief minister.
Six-time MLA from Peravur, Vadasiri Damodaran Sathisan, who will turn 62 at the end of this month, led the United Democratic Front (UDF) to a landslide victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, with the alliance bagging 102 seats in the 140-member House.
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Sathisean is one of the senior leaders in the Kerala Congress unit and served as the leader of the opposition in the outgoing Assembly.
Earlier, Congress leader AK Antony expressed support for Kerala Chief Minister-designate V D Sathisan after meeting him in Thiruvananthapuram, expressing confidence in his leadership and setting expectations on the state’s development trajectory.
Speaking to ANI, Antony said that he wishes success to Satheesan and hopes that under his leadership, Keralam will emerge as one of the most progressive states in south India in terms of development and welfare measures.
“I wish him success. I hope that during his tenure, he should be able to consider Kerala as one of the best progressive states in South India in terms of development and welfare measures. I fully support the decision taken by the party high command with the blessings of Sonia Gandhi, Congress president Kharji and Rahul Gandhi to take this decision. So I fully support this decision,” Antony said.
