Ten days after the Congress-led UDF stormed to power in Kerala, the party, which is still unable to name its Chief Minister in the state, on Wednesday announced that the decision onKerala’s next Chief Ministerwill finally be revealed on Thursday (May 14) after marathon discussions involving the party high command. The delay has sparked speculation that the leadership is still trying to craft a compromise formula acceptable to all major contenders.
“As authorised by the members of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Kerala, the high command of the Congress has completed all discussions, and the decision on who the next Chief Minister of Kerala will be will be announced tomorrow (Thursday),” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said after a 40-minute meeting between Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.
A Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting is also set to be held at 1 pm on May 14, as announced a day ago by Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Sunny Joseph.
Venugopal reportedly enjoys the support of a majority of newly elected MLAs and several senior leaders despite not being an MLA himself. Satheesan, meanwhile, is said to have the backing of UDF allies, especially the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), along with strong public support following his aggressive opposition campaign over the last five years.
Supporters of Satheesan argue that the UDF’s sweeping victory was built on his leadership and statewide mobilisation efforts. Senior leader Ramesh Chennithala has based his claim on experience, seniority and broader acceptability within the organisation.
However, all three contenders personally presented their cases before the Congress leadership, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, during separate one-on-one meetings held last Saturday.
The Venugopal camp insists that the Congress should stick to the tradition of selecting a leader who commands majority support in the CLP meeting scheduled for Thursday. Satheesan’s supporters, however, argue that public sentiment and allies’ views cannot be ignored.
The final decision is now expected to rest entirely with the Congress high command.
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Sudhanshu Mishra is a Senior Copy Editor at Times Now. While his day-to-day work centres on news, his writing interests lie in the intersections of cu...View More
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