Who Is The Next Chief Minister of Kerala? Suspense Ends As Cong Names VD Satheesan For CM Post

More than ten days after a decisive electoral victory, the Congress has finally announced the name of the next Chief Minister of Kerala. Well, it is none other than VD Satheesan.

KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala were also in the race. In the end, the high command has decided to make VD Satheesan as the head of the Congress Legislature Party.

"It is a very good decision," Keralam Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph said, as VD Satheesan is announced as the Kerala CM.

Despite securing a two-thirds majority in the assembly, the United Democratic Front (UDF) had taken over 10 days to name a leader. KC Venugopal, AICC General Secretary with significant influence in New Delhi, was a strong contender.

The announcement was made by All India Congress Committee's Kerala in-charge, Deepa Dasmunshi, during a press conference in Delhi. Senior Congress leaders Ajay Maken, Mukul Wasnik, and Jairam Ramesh were also present.

The decision followed consultations between the Congress high command and several senior leaders of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), including former state unit chiefs, in Delhi to finalise the leadership choice.

Sources close to VD Satheesan told NDTV that the Congress's ally and UDF constituent IUML (Indian Union Muslim League) had backed VD Satheesan for the top post and he was unwilling to accept a secondary role.

Before the United Democratic Front's (UDF) emphatic victory in the Assembly elections, Satheesan served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly. The UDF secured 102 seats in the 140-member House.

Following the announcement of the new Chief Minister, the Congress Kerala Committee is expected to meet Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar today to stake claim to form the government.

Satheesan retained the Paravur constituency in the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections, winning his sixth consecutive term as an MLA. He secured 78,658 votes and defeated CPI candidate ET Taison Master by a margin of 20,600 votes. He has represented Paravur continuously since first winning the seat in 2001.

As Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly since 2021, Satheesan emerged as one of the leading faces of the UDF campaign against the ruling Left government. He has consistently criticised the state government on a range of political and governance issues.

He also served as Vice President of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and succeeded senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala as Leader of the Opposition after the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections.

Born in 1964 in Nettoor near Kochi, Satheesan is a lawyer by profession. He began his political career through the Kerala Students Union (KSU) before becoming active in the Youth Congress.

With inputs from ANI