Days of uncertainty over Kerala’s next Chief Minister finally ended on Thursday, May 14, after mounting public support for VD Satheesan and pressure from UDF allies helped tilt the Congress leadership battle in his favour. The Congress high command picked Satheesan to lead the new government despite reports that a majority of the party’s MLAs had backed KC Venugopal during consultations with central observers.

Satheesan, who led the UDF campaign against the LDF, had emerged as the public face of the alliance’s comeback bid, with posters, social media campaigns, and demonstrations by party workers across Kerala openly projecting him as the next Chief Minister.

Though 47 of the Congress’ 63 MLAs are learnt to have favoured KC Venugopal during one-to-one meetings with AICC observers, Satheesan secured the backing of key UDF allies, including the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which has 22 MLAs, besides broad support among party........

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