Congress changes guard in Kerala; chooses VD Satheesan as LoP over Ramesh Chennithala

In yet another change of guard in Kerala Congress, the party has chosen VD Satheesan as its new Leader of Opposition on Saturday. The 56-year-old Congress leader will replace Ramesh Chennithala who was nursing Chief ministerial ambitions in Kerala. Satheesan was elected from Paravur constituency in Ernakulam district for a fifth consecutive term in the recently concluded Kerala polls where Congress won only 41 of the 140 seats.

Kerala Congress chooses Satheesan as LoP

Satheesan, who was previously Vice-president of the Kerala Congress and AICC secretary will head the leadership change in the state after Congress' drubbing. Reports suggest that the current KPCC chief  Mullappally Ramachandran too may be replaced as per Congress High Command's wishes. Incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan who was re-elected has also dropped all ministers from his old cabinet, replacing them with new faces.

Kerala Congress infighting

Ahead of the polls, Congress veteran P C Chacko -  a fierce Rahul Gandhi loyalist - sent his resignation to party chief  Sonia Gandhi claiming that there is 'no democracy in  Congress'.  Slamming the high-command of the Congress he said that the groupism had only increased and degenerated to a level where the two alleged factions - Congress (I) and Congress (A) - arrived at their own list of candidates and sent them to the high-command without any deliberations. He has now joined NCP, which is part of the ruling LDF.

Later Congress released names of 86 candidates for Kerala Assembly polls, touting a 'generational shift as wanted by Rahul Gandhi' dropping several veterans. Immediately, Mahila Congress chief Lathika Subash tonsured her head and resigned from her post in front of the Congress's office in Thiruvananthapuram on being denied a poll ticket. On similar grounds,  Kerala Congress Vice- President K C Rosakutty resigned from the party's primary membership and joined hands with the LDF. Rosakutty said that she was upset with the Congress sidelining women, after being denied a ticket for the upcoming polls.

Congress' poll drubbing

Kicking off its 'Aishwarya Kerala Yatra', Congress leader  Ramesh Chennithala vowed to bring legislation to protect the rights of the Ayyappa devotees when the UDF is voted to power. Moreover, Rahul Gandhi visited the state multiple times, campaigning for UDF. Congress also repeatedly called for CM Pinarayi Vijayan's resignation over a host of issues - Gold smuggling probe, Sandalwood probe, COVID handling, Sabarimala issue, Sprinklr row, Police social media order etc. Inspite of its massive push, UDF won only 41 seats, while LDF won 99 seats, breaking the cyclic power of UDF-LDF governments in Kerala and ushering Vijayan's 2nd term.