UDF Won Elections A Week Ago, But Kerala CM Name Is Still Not Out. Why Congress Is Yet To Decide

(MENAFN- Live Mint) It's been a week since Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won the Kerala aassembly elections. Still, suspense continues over Congress's chief-ministerial nominee for the state.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at the party's "alleged indecision" in naming a new Chief Minister for Kerala, accusing the Congress leadership of allgedly stabbing its own leaders in the back.

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PM Modi alleged that Congress-led governments are consumed by "internal disputes" rather than public service and pointed out that despite securing a mandate in Kerala, the party has remained unable to choose its Chief Minister, leaving the state's administration in a state of paralysis.

"Instead of solving the problems of the people, the government here is spending most of its time resolving internal disputes. It has still not been decided how long the Chief Minister will remain in office...Even in Kerelam now, they are unable to reach a conclusion. They make promises to their own party leaders and then stab them in the back. The same happened in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The same game is still going on in Karnataka. Now it is Kerala's turn," PM Modi said speaking at an event in Karnataka.

PM Modi's remarks came after the Congress-led UDF won 102 of the state's 140 seats.

Assembly elections were held in Kerala along with West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. West Bengal, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu have got their chief ministers. Himanta Biswa Sarma is all set to be chief minister of Assam. However, the Congress party hasn't finalised its chief ministerial choice yet.

Ball in high commands's court

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi have reportedly seized of the matter and the name is likely to be announced soon.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, remarking that the PM appears to have "memory loss" regarding his own party's history of leadership delays in Delhi.

Responding to the Prime Minister's jibes over the ongoing suspense in selecting the Kerala Chief Minister, Chennithala reminded him that the BJP itself had allegedly delayed its Chief Ministerial pick in Delhi for 50 days.

Congress leader K Muraleedharan said on Sunday the party workers are bound to accept the high command's decision regarding the selection of the next chief minister of Kerala. Responding to reporters' questions in Thiruvananthapuram, Muraleedharan said the current debate over the chief minister's post has not overshadowed the United Democratic Front's (UDF) electoral victory in the southern state.

The top brass of the Congress held a meeting for more than three hours in Delhi on Saturday to discuss government formation in Kerala. The meeting convened by Kharge at his residence was attended by Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi, general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and senior leaders from the state Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan.

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Venugopal, Satheesan and Chennithala are considered to be the frontrunners for the chief minister's post.

"Everyone expressed their views and Rahulji heard them patiently. The final decision on the chief minister will be taken by the Congress high command and whatever decision is made will be accepted by all," Chennithala had said after the meeting.

Kerala Congress chief Sunny Joseph and senior observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik were also present at the meeting.

The tenure of Kerala Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 23 May 2026.

Satheesan had said the Congress has scored a historic win in the Kerala Assembly polls due to the hard work of all workers but subsequently, there have been demonstrations, social-media campaigns and even flexboards have come up regarding the selection of the chief minister, creating an image of divisions in the party.

"All of us are requesting together that please do not carry out such demonstrations and campaigns for anyone of us. It will hurt the Congress workers, the UDF activists and the large number of people who have voted for us," he had said.

Endorsing his views, Venugopal had said people have given a huge victory to the party and they want a UDF government that would work for them. "There have been some unfortunate incidents. These should be ended," he had said.

Majority of the party MLAs are said to be in favour of Venugopal occupying the top post, while the public's choice is Satheesan.

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Supporters of both Venugopal and Satheesan have put up posters and banners of their leaders in Delhi as well as in the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. Some university students in Delhi have also shown strong support for Satheesan, welcoming him upon his late-night arrival in the national capital. Posters of Venugopal as the next chief minister have also come up outside Kharge's residence.

The Congress has 63 MLAs in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has 22 legislators and the alliance partner's opinion will matter. The Kerala Congress (KEC) has won eight seats and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) three in the just-concluded polls. The UDF has won a total of 102 seats, which is more than a two-thirds majority.

(With agency inputs)

Key Takeaways

Internal conflicts within political parties can hinder effective governance. Public perception and party unity are crucial in leadership selection. The decision-making process in political parties can be influenced by various stakeholders and alliances.

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