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VD Satheesan, KC Venugopal or Ramesh Chennithala—who’ll be Congress’ CM pick in Kerala?

From a Congress viewpoint, who would be the ideal Chief Minister for Kerala at this point? It should be Shashi Tharoor, given how he ticks all the boxes.

Who will be the Kerala chief minister if Congress comes to power in the state?

With the United Democratic Front (UDF) smelling victory, that’s the question doing the rounds in Kerala’s political circles.

Mohammed Shiyas, Ernakulam District Congress Committee president and loyalist of Leader of Opposition, VD Satheesan, set the cat amongst the pigeons when he stated that the next CM should come from Ernakulam district (read Satheesan). This saw Congress leaders from different camps reacting to it sharply, even as Satheesan himself played down the comment.

Then it was Kannur MP K Sudhakaran’s turn to come out backing KC Venugopal on Facebook, where he took potshots at Satheesan for lacking organisational experience. A number of Venugopal loyalists in Kerala also took to social media to hail their leader in its wake.

Also read: Minorities are backing UDF again. Will it break LDF’s streak in Kerala?

There is more than a fortnight left before the formal announcement of the results, but Satheesan, Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala have all begun jockeying for the crown.

Congress, buoyed by the consolidation of minority communities in its favour this time around, needs to take a long-term call in the state.

From a Congress viewpoint, who would be the ideal Chief Minister for Kerala at this point? It should be Shashi Tharoor, given how he ticks all the boxes.

However, with elected MLAs having a natural edge over MPs like Tharoor or KC Venugopal, it would be tough for the Congress high command to foist someone with two by-elections to follow in the next six months.

Satheesan and Chennithala

The selection would depend on a possible understanding struck between Satheesan and Chennithala.

However, under no circumstances would Chennithala yield. Satheesan too would not give up without a fight. This ensures that the Congress high command eventually........

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