Kerala
Congress ends 10-day suspense, names V.D. Satheesan as new Kerala CM
Thiruvananthapuram/IBNS: The Congress on Thursday appointed V. D. Satheesan as the next Chief Minister of Kerala, ending nearly 10 days of speculation over who would succeed Pinarayi Vijayan.
AICC general secretary and Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunsi announced Satheesan’s name on Thursday.
Satheesan had served as the Leader of the Opposition in the previous Kerala Assembly.
The Congress Legislature Party had met in Thiruvananthapuram on May 7th, 2026 and had unanimously resolved to authorize the Congress President to appoint the new leader of the CLP in the state of Keralam.
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 14, 2026
Accordingly, the Congress President has held extensive discussions with… pic.twitter.com/sX6FhRm4Fv
Congress ends decade-long Left rule
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) returned to power in Kerala after defeating the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), ending 10 years of Communist rule in the state.
The UDF secured a landslide victory by winning 102 out of 140 Assembly seats, comfortably crossing the majority mark of 71. The ruling LDF was reduced to 35 seats, while the BJP-led NDA won 3 seats.
The Congress also emerged as the single-largest party with 63 seats.
Political journey of Satheesan
Satheesan began his political career through the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the student wing of the Congress party. He later rose through the ranks of the Youth Congress and the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.
He became the Leader of the Opposition in 2021 after the Congress-led UDF lost the Assembly elections to the LDF.
Rise as a prominent opposition face
Satheesan gained prominence in Kerala politics for aggressively attacking the LDF government on issues such as corruption allegations, the gold smuggling controversy, governance, and law-and-order concerns.
He is often associated with reform-oriented politics within the party.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
