Kerala: Congress legislature party meet on Thursday to decide on new leader

Bengaluru: The newly elected Congress MLAs in Kerala will meet in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday morning as the party sets into motion the process of selecting the new chief minister.

AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik and treasurer Ajay Maken reached the state capital on Wednesday and will be present at the Congress legislature party (CLP) meeting. They plan to meet MLAs individually and gather their opinion rather than go for a headcount, sources said.

The party is keen to complete the process by Sunday and has asked senior leaders including Pradesh Congress president Sunny Joseph, Opposition leader VD Satheesan, veteran leader Ramesh Chennithala and MPs to be in Delhi on Friday, the sources added.


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After meeting with MLAs, the two AICC leaders will convey their assessment to the AICC leadership.

Satheesan, Chennithala and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal are among the front runners for the post. Venugopal, a confidante of Rahul Gandhi, has been nursing his ambitions to be the CM. He represents Alappuzha in the Lok Sabha, while Satheesan and Chennithala won from Paravur and Haripad, respectively.

There have been intense debates and discussions among the followers of the leaders, each indicating his or her preference, and with some strongly voting for Satheesan. His colleague Chennithala, however, said in Delhi that the party high command, and not social media campaigns, would ultimately decide the next CM.

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Meanwhile, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), which has already started internal discussions on portfolios, may demand Dy CM’s post as it has won 22 seats. It may also ask for four Cabinet positions excluding the Dy CM post.