The Congress party finally picked VD Satheesan as the Chief Minister of Kerala. The party announced it during a press conference in New Delhi.
The announcement on Thursday has ended the suspense over the party’s pick ten days after the results of the assembly elections were declared. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won over two-thirds of the seats in the Kerala Assembly polls.
“It has been decided to appoint V. D. Satheesan as the leader of the CLP,” Congress leader Deepa Dasmunsi said during the press conference in the national capital.
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V. D. Satheesan has been appointed as the new Chief Minister of Kerala. The announcement was made by the Congress party following their victory in the assembly elections.
Satheesan was chosen due to his prominent role as the Leader of Opposition, where he effectively campaigned against the ruling government on various issues. His leadership is credited with the Congress-led UDF returning to power after a decade.
V. D. Satheesan is a veteran Congress leader who began his political career through the Kerala Students Union. He has been an MLA for the Paravur Assembly constituency since 2001 and served as the Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Kerala assembly.
Other prominent contenders for the Kerala Chief Minister position included K. C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, both senior Congress leaders. Venugopal is an MP and considered a close aide of Rahul Gandhi.
V. D. Satheesan won his sixth consecutive term as MLA from the Paravur constituency in the recent Kerala Assembly election, securing 78,658 votes and defeating his CPI opponent by a margin of 20,600 votes.
The results of the Kerala assembly elections were announced on 10 May. The Congress-led UDF won 102 seats in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. But the Congress party was since engaged in prolonged consultations over the leadership issue amid lobbying by different camps and protests by workers at the ground level.
The term of the outgoing Kerala assembly expires on 23 May.
Who is VD Satheesan?
Satheesan, 62, was Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Kerala assembly.
Born in 1964 in Nettoor near Kochi, Satheesan comes from a Congress family and is known as a grassroots Congress leader. Trained as a lawyer and social worker, he entered politics through the Kerala Students Union (KSU) before steadily climbing the Congress ladder.
Satheesan pipped two serious contenders — KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, both senior Congress leaders in the race. Venugopal is an MP from Kerala and considered a close aide of Rahul Gandhi.
After his stint as a student’s union leader, Satheesan became active in the Youth Congress and gradually built a reputation as a sharp speaker and aggressive political organiser.
Satheesan has represented the Paravur Assembly constituency in Kerala since 2001. Over the last ten years, when Congress was out of power in Kerala, Satheesan established himself as one of the most powerful opposition faces.
“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. I seek the support of every section of people in Keralam. Only a collective effort can build a new Keralam. No one can do it alone; a team can achieve it,” Satheesan said in his first remarks after Thursday’s announcement.
Sixth term as MLA
Satheesan was elected Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly in 2021. Satheesan won the 2026 Kerala Assembly election from the Paravur constituency, securing his sixth consecutive term as an MLA.
Satheesan secured 78,658 votes, defeating CPI candidate ET Taison Master by a margin of 20,600 votes. He has represented the Paravur constituency for 25 years, having first won the seat in 2001.
Satheesan also served as the Vice President of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and succeeded Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala as the Leader of the Opposition after the 2021 Kerala Assembly election.
Satheesan is seen by supporters as a leader who helped revive the party’s energy after its 2021 defeat, is the new Chief Minister of Kerala.
“For the last decade, V D Satheesan has built his image as an aggressive opposition voice in Kerala politics, mixing sharp attacks on the Left government with a calm and accessible public style,” news agency PTI said.
Why did Congress chose him?
In the last five years as the Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Satheesan emerged as a prominent face of the United Democratic Front (UDF) campaign against the ruling Left government on various political and governance issues.
The party high command chose him after considering his performance as leader of opposition in the Kerala assembly, where he focused heavily on corruption allegations, law-and-order issues and the state’s financial troubles, often taking the fight directly to Left Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Satheesan is credited for leading the Congress party’s campaign bringing the UDF back to power in Kerala after a decade.
Satheesan is credited with leading the Congress party’s campaign, bringing the UDF back to power in Kerala after a decade. Many analysts say that, under his leadership as a powerful opposition face, the Congress-led UDF swept the 2026 Kerala Assembly election and ended a decade of Left rule.
Congress ally, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) backed Satheesan as the chief ministerial pick. The IUML reportedly told the Congress party that Satheesan enjoys wider public acceptance among the three contenders.
