Congress picks VD Satheesan as next Kerala chief minister, ending 10-day deadlock
· Scroll
The Congress on Thursday named VD Satheesan as the next chief minister of Kerala, 10 days after the Assembly election results were announced on May 4.
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The decision came after a reported deadlock in consultations between the Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi and chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and the party’s Kerala-based leaders.
The race for the chief minister’s post was believed to be between Satheesan, who was the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala and Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front won 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly, defeating the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Left Democratic Front after a decade in Opposition. The Congress won 63 seats. The majority mark is 70.
On Thursday, Venugopal said that he welcomed the decision “wholeheartedly”, ANI reported. He congratulated Satheesan and said the UDF government “can fulfil the aspirations and promises” of the people of Kerala.
The Congress Legislature Party is expected to meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday to formally elect Satheesan as their leader, The New Indian Express reported.
The six-time MLA had defeated the Communist Party of India’s ET Taison in the Paravur constituency by a margin of 20,600 votes on May 4.
Written by Sara Varghese. Edited by Tanya Shrivastava and Nachiket Deuskar
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