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Amid mounting campaigns and visible factional lobbying over the Congress’ chief ministerial choice in Kerala, senior leaders VD Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala and KC Venugopal made a rare joint appeal to party workers to immediately stop protests, social media campaigns and the display of flex boards supporting individual leaders.
In a press meet on Saturday, May 9, they warned that such activities were damaging the party’s image after the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) sweeping electoral victory. The appeal came after the three leaders met the Congress high command in Delhi for discussions on finalising the next Kerala Chief Minister.
Meeting the media after discussions with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi said the leadership had held extensive consultations with party leaders and that a final decision on the Chief Minister would be announced “in due time”.
Stating that there were “unruly incidents” in the state by “some overenthusiastic workers”, she requested the workers to stop protesting and campaigning. “People have given us a landslide majority, and those unruly incidents are not our Congress culture. So, we are requesting all the workers to stop this kind of activity. Also, very soon, I think in due time we will get the final decision by our high command, and we are waiting for that,” she said.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan said the campaigns and public displays backing individual leaders were creating divisions within the party despite the Congress’ historic victory. He further said, “All three of us together are saying that don’t do these campaigns. It will hurt congress workers, UDF workers and the people who voted for us.”
Seconding Satheesan, KC Venugopal also requested the Congress workers to stop protesting both offline and online and added that all the three leaders wished to move forward with Congress leadership’s decision. “Some unfortunate incidents take place in between. We would like to put all those behind. All of us are party workers and our foremost priority is the party and the people,” he said.
Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala also appealed for restraint, saying the public campaigns had begun to damage the party’s image despite workers’ enthusiasm. “There is nothing wrong with loving leaders or showing interest in them. We realised that this has created a bad name for us among the public. I want to say that all party workers and leaders should remove the boards and don’t do any campaigns and stand with what the party high command decides.”
The UDF’s sweeping victory in the elections triggered intense discussions within the party over who will lead the next government as Chief Minister. With the UDF ending the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front’s decade-long rule and the Congress emerging as the single largest party in the alliance with 63 seats, attention shifted from the electoral triumph to the leadership battle unfolding within the Congress.
Soon after the victory, three senior leaders emerged as the principal contenders for the Chief Minister’s post — Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, and AICC general secretary KC Venugopal. Amid the uncertainty, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) passed a one-line resolution authorising the party high command to take the final decision on the CM candidate after consulting newly elected MLAs and alliance partners.
The contest has also sparked visible lobbying by supporters of various leaders across Kerala. Posters, flex boards, demonstrations, and social media campaigns have appeared in support of different contenders, particularly VD Satheesan, whose supporters argue that he played a key role in rebuilding the UDF and leading the alliance’s comeback victory. Supporters have flooded Rahul Gandhi’s social media pages with appeals demanding that Satheesan be chosen as Chief Minister, using hashtags such as #VDSForCM and #SupportVDSatheesan.
The campaign has extended beyond social media to street protests and marches in several districts. At demonstrations held in Thiruvananthapuram and other parts of the state, Congress workers carried placards calling for Satheesan to lead the government, while some protests reportedly targeted flex boards erected in support of rival contenders.
Despite the growing public campaigns, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan stated that the party high command would not be influenced by posters or demonstrations. He said the final decision would depend on consultations with MLAs and coalition partners, adding that Congress observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik had already submitted their report to party president Mallikarjun Kharge after gathering feedback from legislators.
Congress leaders have publicly attempted to downplay suggestions of serious factionalism, insisting that the party would unite once the high command announces its decision. The swearing-in ceremony for the new government is expected within days after the leadership issue is resolved.
