Congress picks VD Satheesan as next Kerala chief minister
This story was originally published at 13:03 IST on 14 May 2026
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NEW DELHI – The Indian National Congress Thursday announced that senior leader V.D. Satheesan will be the next chief minister of Kerala, ending speculations that lasted 10 days after the declaration of the state Assembly election results on May 4.
Satheesan, a six-time member of legislative Assembly, was the leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly. Other contenders for the top post were senior party leaders K.C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala.
"The Congress legislature party met in Thiruvananthapuram on May 7, and unanimously resolved to authorise the Congress president to appoint the new leader of the legislature party in Kerala," Congress leader Deepa Dasmunsi announced here. "It has been decided to appoint V.D. Satheesan as the leader of the Congress legislature party."
Satheesan is widely credited as the architect of the Congress-led United Democratic Front's massive 102-seat victory in the recently concluded elections in Kerala, which ended the 10-year rule of the Left Democratic Front government led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Pinarayi Vijayan .
The Congress leadership has been facing criticism from political observers and others over its failure to pick a chief ministerial face even as new governments have already been formed in West Bengal and Assam--states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party. End
Reported by Asim Khan
Edited by Tanima Banerjee
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