Cong’s Keralam CM contenders: Who among VD Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, KC Venugopal, or Shashi Tharoor will get the crown?
The names of VD Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, KC Venugopal, and Shashi Tharoor are doing the rounds for Keralam CM
The Congress party did not declare a chief ministerial candidate before the Keralam Assembly elections and projected a collective leadership against CM Pinarayi Vijayan, but certain camps in the party have voiced support for their leaders.
Nothing is left of the Left, as it has lost its last bastion of Keralam and is no longer in power in any state or Union Territory in the country. The Left Democratic Front (LDF) is on the way out as the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) is storming back to power.
With the UDF making a comeback after a decade, the focus has shifted to its chief ministerial face.
The Congress did not declare a CM candidate before the elections and projected a collective leadership against CM Pinarayi Vijayan, but certain camps in the party have voiced support for their leaders.
Veteran Congress leader PJ Kurien said on Saturday that there were several persons in the party qualified to become chief minister if the UDF wins, but that only three names were being considered for the position. He did not share the three names.
Kurien said that unlike the Left Front, the Congress has no dearth of qualified leaders.
In line with the party tradition, the newly elected Congress MLAs are likely to pass a resolution empowering the party high command to choose the next CM.
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The main contenders for CM’s post are:
VD Satheesan
The Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly is considered the front-runner. He is said to have effectively led the charge against the LDF government in the Keralam Assembly for the past five years. Satheesan expressed his gratitude to the people in the state and said that he has delivered on his promise to bring UDF back in power. He also thanked top leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, who campaigned vigorously across the state.
IUML Keralam chief Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal has openly spoken in favour of Satheesan as CM. However, the Congress may not want to give the impression that the IUML is calling the shots in the alliance.
Ramesh Chennithala
Veteran leader Ramesh Chennithala, who was the Leader of Opposition during Pinarayi Vijayan’s previous term is also in the fray and has a good connect in the party organisation even outside the state. Among all the Nair leaders in Congress, Chennithala has the strongest community connect due to his close ties to the Nair Service Society. However, the 2021 poll loss under his leadership, may go against him.
KC Venugopal
Congress National General Secretary (Organisation), KC Venugopal is currently the second-most powerful non-Gandhi Congress leader after party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. The name of Venugopal, who represents Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency, is also doing the rounds for CM face in Keralam.
He enjoys the trust of both Rahul Gandhi and Kharge, and may get a favourable consideration even if he did not contest the Assembly elections.
However, his crowning as CM would leave a big vacuum at the Congress' central leadership.
Shashi Tharoor
The name of Shashi Tharoor, a four-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram, has been doing the rounds as a CM contender, though he has always been viewed as someone meant for central politics, not state politics, even though his relations with the party’s central leadership have been rocky.
