Thiruvananthapuram | Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Thursday said that if the theory of senior most party leaders becoming CM is implemented, then many states would get chief ministers who are more than 90 years old.
Satheesan was responding to queries, at a media event here, on whether there was a "battle" between him, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala for the state's top post.
The race for the post of CM between the three had created tensions within the party following installation of flex boards on the streets and extensive social media campaigns by supporters of the three contenders following the Congress-led UDF sweeping the April 2026 Assembly elections.
The CM said that both Venugopal and Chennithala were senior to him and the Congress has many other leaders who have the potential to be head the state.
"Venugopal is senior to me by 2-3 years, but Chennithala is far more senior to me. There are several aspirants for the CM post in the Congress. There are leaders in the party with the potential to be CM. There are many leaders senior to me. I am not saying I was the only one eligible for it."
"But if all parties follow the theory of seniormost leaders becoming CM, you will get CMs who are 90 plus in many states. Here in Keralam, A K Antony became CM at the age of 36. He was the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief at the age of 32," Satheesan recalled.
When asked whether he became the CM as he was the choice of the people, the Congress' allies and the social media, he replied, "I was the party's choice." On whether the UDF took a lot of time to form government after winning the polls, he said that the Congress-led front took only 10 days.
"In many states more time than that has been taken. The LDF took 16 days to decide the CM last time," he contended.
During the interaction, a link of which was shared on Satheesan's Facebook page, he also said that his dream target during the assembly polls was 110 seats, but the UDF got 102.
"I want to achieve my dream target," he said.
