Congress names VD Satheesan as Kerala Chief Minister: Who is he

After weeks of hectic parleys, Congress has named VD Satheesan as the Chief Minister of Keralam. This ends the 10-days suspense in the state as Congress party delayed the announcement of the Chief Minister amid reports of rift within the party. The frontrunners for the top was Satheesan and Congress MP KC Venugopal and and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala. Congress observers Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken consulted the MLAs and MPs and informed Rahul Gandhi about their choices. The Congress LoP then spoke to Satheesan, and later met senior Congress leaders from Kerala, including former state unit chiefs to arrive at the decision. The Congress Legislature Party had earlier passed a resolution authorising the high command to make the final call on the leadership question.

Who is VD Satheesan?

It is a full circle moment for 61-year-old Satheesan, who had declared that he would step away from active politics if the UDF failed to secure a convincing mandate in the recently concluded Keralam Elections. He was born in Nettur in Ernakulam district and entered politics through student activism at Sacred Heart College, Thevara. He later held leadership positions in student organisations, including the Mahatma Gandhi University Union and the National Students Union of India (NSUI). He lost his first Assembly election in 1996, but has won the Paravur seat continuously since 2001. he steadily consolidated his position in the constituency and went on to win repeatedly from the seat. The UDF’s victory and his elevation to the top post has now placed him as the most influential Congress leaders in Kerala.

Throughout the Assembly campaign, Satheesan strongly emphasised secularism and projected the UDF as an alternative to both majority and minority communal politics. He also energised party workers and alliance partners with the “Team UDF” slogan, which became a key theme of the campaign. Known as a strong organiser, Satheesan is credited by party leaders with reviving the UDF’s political momentum through key byelection victories and the alliance’s strong performance in Kerala during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Satheesan was sidelined during the Oommen Chandy government.

What was the Kerala Assembly Elections?

In the Kerala Assembly election, the United Democratic Front (UDF) ended a decade-long rule of Left Democratic Front (LDF). In the 140-member Assembly, the UDF secured 102 seats, comfortably crossing the majority mark. Congress won 63 seats, while its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), secured 22 seats. The LDF was reduced to 35 seats, with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) winning 26 seats and the Communist Party of India securing 8. Other allies registered marginal gains. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three seats, improving its presence in the Assembly compared to previous elections. Former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan retained his Dharmadam constituency but the alliance he led lost leading to his ouster.