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Kerala was in a political stalemate for ten days. The delay in reaching a consensus for the chief minister’s post was unjustifiable, given the unambiguous victory for the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). Deepa Dasmunshi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Kerala, broke the chief ministerial impasse in a press briefing on Thursday (May 14) by announcing V.D. Satheesan as the chief minister-designate.

This announcement transformed the political mood of the state in a jiffy, with Satheesan supporters erupting into a jubilant mood. Sixty-two-year-old Satheesan is a six-time legislator from Paravur assembly constituency in Ernakulam district. He replaced his party colleague Ramesh Chennithala as the opposition leader in the assembly in the second Pinarayi Vijayan government (2021-2026), and has ever since self-groomed for the top post. The contest for the chief minister’s post within the party, against K.C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, was not an easy one for Satheesan.

The journey began quietly – he was, after all, taking on Pinarayi Vijayan, who had just won a second consecutive term as chief minister and carried the celebrated tag of ‘Iratta Chankan‘ (a man with two hearts), along with an unquestioned and unprecedented grip over the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)].

Satheesan didn’t take the familiar route. He didn’t choose the masculine way, which had become a natural choice for many by then. He kept his Ernakulam accent intact rather than smoothing it into something more formal, and that turned out to work in his favour. His style of functioning, too, remained organic. This slowly gained him acceptance among the wider politically enlightened public of the state, who could differentiate between autocracy and political resolve, between popularity and worship. 

Also read: Congress Picks V.D. Satheesan as Kerala Chief Minister After 10 Days of Suspense

Chennithala had been over-focused on corruption allegations against the first Pinarayi government, while Satheesan meticulously focused on corruption allegations (AI camera project, Kerala Fibre Optic Network- K-FON, etc.), flaws in governance (the state’s financial management, recurring medical negligence........

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