New Delhi | A week after the Assembly poll results in Kerala gave a thumping majority to the United Democratic Front, the Congress leadership continues to grapple with government formation, while discussions continue as to who will be the next chief minister of the southern state.
To break the deadlock, sources said, the top leadership has now decided to hold discussions with former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) presidents before finalising the chief ministerial candidate.
Those who have been called by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to Delhi for discussions, likely on Tuesday, include M M Hassan, V M Sudheeran, Mullapally Ramachandran and K Muraleedharan, besides veteran leader and Kannur Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran, sources said.
Discussions would also be held with former defence minister and party veteran A K Antony, who served as the KPCC president between 1996 and 2001.
Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will take the final call on the new Kerala chief minister, which is likely to be finalised in a day or two, the sources said.
They also said that the matter may be taken up with the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who is likely to hold final discussions before closing in on the chief ministerial candidate and government formation in Kerala.
Three senior leaders – ex-KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and leader of opposition in the outgoing Assembly, V D Satheesan – have emerged as frontrunners for the top job in the southern state.
While Venugopal enjoys the support of Rahul Gandhi and the top Congress leadership, as well as the backing of more than 40 newly elected MLAs, Satheesan is popular among the party workers in Kerala.
There have been demonstrations in Kerala for making Satheesan the chief minister, which some feel may have gone against him.
“I think a decision will be made within 48 hours. Congress is a democratic party, so it will apply all democratic methods, including discussions with MLAs and coalition partners. Tomorrow, there will be discussions with former KPCC presidents. As a new generation emerges, disputes and discussions will naturally occur,” Muraleedharan said in Thiruvananthapuram.
On Saturday, the Congress top brass held a long meeting in Delhi to discuss government formation in Kerala.
Convened by Kharge at his residence, it was attended by Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala, Deepa Dasmunshi, Venugopal, Chennithala and Satheesan.
The Congress leadership had earlier sent two senior observers – Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik – to speak to each of the new MLAs in Kerala and know their preference for the chief minister’s post. A majority of them had come out in support of Venugopal.
All the Congress MLAs had earlier signed a one-line resolution authorising the party high command to make the final decision on the chief minister pick.
“In due time, the due course of action will be taken, and the final decision will be taken by the high command,” Dasmunshi had said earlier, noting that the government formation can happen till May 23.
KPCC chief Sunny Joseph had also said that the high command's decision will be accepted unanimously.
The Congress has 63 MLAs in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. Its allies Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has 22, Kerala Congress (KEC) has eight and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) three.
The UDF has won a total of 102 seats, which is more than a two-thirds majority.
New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram | The suspense and speculation over who would be the next chief minister of Kerala continued on Monday with the delay in the decision by the Congress irking key UDF constituent IUML, which warned that prolonged uncertainty on the matter could have political repercussions.
This is not the first time the Congress has kept the decision on picking a chief minister hanging.
Intense lobbying was witnessed when the Congress won the Karnataka polls in 2023, with the two top contenders – Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar – lobbying hard for the top post. Finally, a compromise was reached, and Siddaramaiah was named the chief minister with Shivakumar as his deputy.
Such lobbying and delay were also witnessed in 2018, when the Congress won Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
While Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia were chief minister aspirants in Madhya Pradesh, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were the front-runners in Rajasthan. Eventually, a compromise was reached after days of uncertainty, and while Kamal Nath was chosen in Madhya Pradesh, Gehlot got the top job in Rajasthan with Pilot as his deputy.
On Monday, uncertainty continued within the Congress over the selection of Kerala's next chief minister, two days after party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held discussions with the three contenders for the top post – senior leader Ramesh Chennithala, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and leader of opposition in the outgoing Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) chief Sunny Joseph and AICC general secretary in charge of the southern state, Deepa Dasmunsi, also attended the meeting.
Party leaders in Thiruvananthapuram indicated that a decision is expected after Kharge meets senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on the leadership issue.
They also indicated that the high command is waiting for the political atmosphere in Kerala, which witnessed demonstrations and poster wars between the supporters of Satheesan and Venugopal last week, to calm down before making an announcement.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key constituent of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, has expressed strong displeasure over the delay in picking the chief minister, warning that prolonged uncertainty could have political repercussions.
IUML’s Malappuram district general secretary P Abdul Hameed said the delay had already caused dissatisfaction among the party workers and the public.
“The decision has already been delayed. If it is prolonged further, there will be repercussions. We hope the AICC leadership realises this,” he told reporters.
People across the state were questioning the delay, he said, claiming that even women voters from the district were calling party leaders to ask why they had been made to vote for the UDF.
“There is dissatisfaction everywhere. People are raising only this issue wherever we go, including marriage functions and funerals,” Hameed said.
He added that Kerala was politically different from north Indian states and that such prolonged indecision would not be accepted by its politically aware voters.
Asked about the delay, a senior Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, said, “The Assembly expires only on May 23. So there is no hurry – why worry?”
Meanwhile, Chennithala said that whatever decision the party high command makes would be accepted by all Congress and UDF workers in Kerala.
“We have conveyed to the high command whatever we had to say. They have heard everything. Now it is for them to decide,” Chennithala told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram after returning from New Delhi.
He also said the delay was part of a democratic process.
“All the discussions have been completed. We are not taking as much time as the Left Front took last time,” Chennithala said.
On the BJP’s criticism on the issue, Chennithala had said on Sunday that there was no need to respond when the saffron party itself took days to decide on its CM pick in Delhi.
After the 2025 Delhi elections, the BJP came under attack from the opposition parties over the delay in announcing its chief minister candidate.
Senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan compared the ongoing uncertainty in Kerala to a train journey.
“There is no point in walking inside a moving train. The train has not yet reached the station. One can get down only after it reaches the station,” he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
“Sometimes, due to adverse weather conditions, a train may get delayed in reaching the station,” he said, extending the analogy to the ongoing deliberations within the party.
He also acknowledged that the delay has caused unease among the public.
Thiruvananthapuram | As the grand old party remained locked in a prolonged tussle over Kerala’s next CM, BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday took a sarcastic dig at it, triggering fresh political buzz around senior Congress leader K C Venugopal, one of the three contenders for the post.
Reacting to a seemingly sarcastic social media post by a netizen claiming that the Kerala BJP wanted Venugopal, the AICC general secretary, in the state while the national BJP preferred him in New Delhi, Chandrasekhar said on X: “My response: I will neither confirm nor deny that this is true.”
The post shared by the BJP leader mocked the continuing delay in the Congress high command’s decision on the CM’s post amid intense lobbying among the top contenders—V D Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, and Venugopal.
“Hilarious tough fight between Kerala BJP and national BJP. Kerala BJP wants KC Venugopal in Kerala. National BJP wants KC Venugopal in Delhi,” the post read on X.
Chandrasekhar’s sarcastic remark drew widespread attention as uncertainty continues within the Congress over the CM issue, with Venugopal among the prominent names in contention.
