Congress High Command Announces V.D. Satheesan As Kerala's New Chief Minister
Trivandrum, May 14, AIMA Media Update News : Ten days after the assembly election results were declared, the Congress party high command has finalized its Chief Ministerial candidate for Kerala. While three senior leaders vied for the Chief Minister's seat, the Congress leadership ultimately leaned in favor of V.D. Satheesan. Having navigated numerous ups and downs throughout his twenty-five-year political journey, V.D. Satheesan played a pivotal role leveraging his legal acumen in the victory of the Congress-led alliance in the Kerala Assembly elections.
This announcement was made on Thursday at 12:00 PM during a media conference held in Delhi, in the presence of AICC leaders Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik, by Deepa Das Munshi, the Congress in-charge for Kerala. Deepa Das Munshi stated that, following several rounds of deliberations by the Congress high command, V.D. Satheesan was unanimously elected as the new leader of the Kerala Congress Legislature Party (CLP).
Along with V.D. Satheesan, senior leaders K.C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala were also in the race for the post of Kerala Chief Minister. Consequently, suspense prevailed for several days regarding which of these three leaders would ultimately secure the top post. The BJP even took satirical digs at the Congress leadership for its perceived dilly-dallying in announcing the name of the Chief Minister. However, ever since the results of the Kerala Assembly elections were declared, many Malayalis anticipated that Satheesan would be chosen as the Chief Minister. True to these expectations, the Congress leadership ultimately leaned in his favor.
Details about Satheesan :
V.D. Satheesan's full name is Vadasseri Damodaran Satheesan. Born in 1964 into a Nair family in Kochi, Satheesan began his career as a lawyer. Having entered politics during his student days, he served as the Secretary of the National Students' Union. In 1996, Satheesan contested the Assembly elections for the first time from Paravur but was defeated by the CPI candidate, P. Raju. While continuing to practice as an advocate at the Kerala High Court, he was elected as an MLA for the first time in 2001. Since then, there has been no looking back for him. After winning the 2016 elections, he served as the Chief Whip.
Assuming the responsibilities of Leader of the Opposition following the Congress party's defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections, Satheesan infused enthusiasm into the Congress ranks by relentlessly questioning the LDF government. He was largely successful in curbing factional politics within the party. Through his speeches, he managed to appeal to both the youth and the middle class. Satheesan personally spearheaded every aspect from candidate selection to election campaigning and, utilizing his unique strategies, succeeded in making the Congress flag fly even within the traditional strongholds of the Communists. According to the affidavit filed for the 2026 elections, V.D. Satheesan and his spouse possess assets worth 6.69 crore. In the Kerala Assembly election results declared on May 4, the Congress-led UDF alliance won 102 out of the 140 seats. The ruling LDF alliance was limited to just 35 seats. With this, the ten-year rule of the Pinarayi Vijayan government has come to an end.
--- M Venkata T Reddy, News Editor And Investigative Journalist
