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VD Satheesan will become the next chief minister of Kerala, the Congress announced on Thursday after 10 days of intense discussions and meetings.
The suspense finally ended on Thursday morning when the Congress announced Satheesan, over other top contenders KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, and the choice for the Kerala CM post.
In his first statement after the announcement, VD Satheesan, 61, said he e would take into confidence senior Congress leaders and candidates for the top post, KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala.
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VD Satheesan was chosen as the Congress Legislature Party leader and the choice for Kerala CM due to his strong performance as the Leader of the Opposition, widespread public favorability shown in exit polls, and significant support from Congress allies like the IUML.
VD Satheesan is credited with helping lead the Congress to an emphatic win, emerging as a prominent face of the UDF's campaign and serving as a vocal critic of the outgoing Left government on political and governance issues.
The IUML, along with other allies, reportedly backed VD Satheesan, indicating he had wider public acceptance. Their support was crucial for the Congress to maintain its majority and grassroots support in the Assembly.
VD Satheesan expressed that he does not see the position as a personal achievement but as divine. He stated his intention to take senior leaders like KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala into confidence and emphasized the need for collective effort to build a new Kerala.
KC Venugopal welcomed the decision wholeheartedly, congratulating VD Satheesan and stating that as a sincere Congressman, he and others are fully behind the party's choice. He believes Satheesan's leadership can fulfill the aspirations of the people of Kerala.
"I do not see this position as a personal achievement, but as something divine. It was KC Venugopal who coordinated all the activities of the AICC. His support was immense. Ramesh Chennithala is also my leader. I will take all of them into complete confidence...," Satheesan said.
A decision on the next Kerala chief minister had been pending since May 4 when the Congress-led UDF won 102 seats out of the 140, which is more than a two-thirds majority.
The Congress has 63 MLAs in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. Its allies Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has 22, Kerala Congress (KEC) has eight and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) has three seats.
Why did Congress choose Satheesan as Kerala CM?
VD Satheesan, the top choice for CM'
Ahead of the Kerala Assembly Elections 2026, an exit polls showed VD Satheesan as the top choice for the CM, after the outgoing CM Pinarayi Vijayan. The Axis My India Kerala exit polls showed that 21 per cent of those polled favoured Satheesan as the CM choice, while at least 33 per cent wanted Vijayan to continue as the chief minister.
Satheesan was also the choice of 47 of the Congress' 63 MLAs, according to NDTV. The report added that he is also seen as the 'people's candidate'.
2. Support from the Congress' allies
Satheesan was reportedly backed by the party's ally — the IUML (22 seats), the Kerala Congress (7 seats), and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (3) — which totals 32 MLAs in the new Assembly, the Congress simply could not afford to lose.
The most important among them is IUML. Losing its support would have cost the Congress its majority in the 140-member Assembly and its critical grassroots support.
According to NDTV, the Muslim League's ground force ensured Rahul Gandhi won the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and 2024, and in Priyanka Gandhi's by-election win.
On the appointment of Satheesan as the Kerala CM, IUML state chief Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal said his party 'fully supports the Congress' decision'.
3. VD Satheesan, the 'nayakan'
The Kerala CM-elect has been credited with helping lead the Congress to an emphatic win in the 2026 Assembly Elections, and was hailed as 'nayakan', or 'hero', in posters displayed outside its state offices, NDTV reported.
He is a highly experienced leader who has served as a minister at both the Centre and the state. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Kerala Assembly and had dominated the Paravur seat, winning it from the Communist Party's P Raju in 2001, by 7,434 votes, and making it a Congress bastion.
Satheesan was also the principal face of the UDF’s campaign against the outgoing Left government over the last five years. According to news agency ANI, he emerged as a “prominent face" of the UDF campaign and remained a vocal critic of the state government on political and governance issues.
Born in 1964 in Nettoor near Kochi, Satheesan is a lawyer by profession. He began his political journey through the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and later became active in the Youth Congress
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