enior leaders of the Congress in Kerala are expected to meet Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday to finalise the next Chief Minister of the state, following days of internal discussions after the United Democratic Front’s sweeping Assembly election victory.
Among the frontrunners for the Chief Minister’s post are Kerala Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan, Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.
Former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K Sudhakaran, who arrived in New Delhi for the high-level meetings, declined to comment in detail on the ongoing deliberations over the Chief Ministerial post.
Speaking to reporters before leaving Kerala, Sudhakaran said he would return “happy and smiling,” but avoided making any direct remarks on the leadership race.
Several senior Congress leaders are also participating in the discussions convened by the party high command to resolve the leadership question in the state.
The delegation includes former KPCC presidents K Sudhakaran, Mullappally Ramachandran, VM Sudheeran and K Muraleedharan.
KPCC working presidents A P Anilkumar, PC Vishnunath and Shafi Parambil have also been invited for consultations.
K Muraleedharan, MLA from Vattiyurkkavu in Thiruvananthapuram, said the final decision on the Chief Minister would likely be announced within the next 48 hours.
“I think within 48 hours, the decision will come. Congress is a democratic party, so they will apply all democratic methods – discuss with MLAs, coalition partners, and tomorrow they will discuss with former PCC Presidents…a new generation is coming up for the CM position, so automatically there will be disputes, discussions, it’s natural…” Muraleedharan told reporters.
VM Sudheeran said the party leadership wanted a detailed briefing on the political situation in Kerala before making a final decision.
“…According to General Secretary, AICC, Deepa Das Munshi’s message, I’ll be going to Delhi…the leadership wanted us to brief them about the situation in Kerala…” Sudheeran told reporters.
Senior Congress leader MM Hassan also confirmed his participation in the AICC discussions.
“Our secretary informed me that we should go to Delhi, so I am going to Delhi,” Hassan told reporters.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front secured a decisive mandate in the recently concluded Kerala Assembly elections, winning 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly. Despite the clear majority, the alliance has yet to officially announce its Chief Ministerial candidate, drawing criticism from opposition parties over the delay.
Meanwhile, the Congress Legislature Party passed a one-line resolution authorising the party high command to take the final decision on the Chief Minister after consultations with newly elected MLAs and alliance partners.
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