Suspense over the Congress's chief-ministerial nominee in Kerala continued on Sunday, with the party high command yet to announce its decision, amid hectic lobbying by the camps of three top contenders — VD Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala, and KC Venugopal.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi met Satheesan in a bid to end the logjam, which has been persisted since the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) swept the assembly polls in the southern state on May 4, over the appointment of the next chief minister.
“We are waiting for the high command to take a decision. It could take a couple of days,” a leader close to Chennithala told HT, asking not to be named.
Satheesan (61), the leader of the Opposition in the outgoing assembly, Chennithala (69), a former minister and ex-LoP, and Venugopal (63), AICC general secretary (organisation) and Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha, are seen as the prime contenders for the CM’s post.
While Satheesan and Chennithala won from their respective constituencies of Paravur and Haripad in the recently concluded polls, Venugopal did not contest the election.
A day ago, the Congress top brass had held a meeting in Delhi to discuss government formation in Kerala. The meeting convened by party president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence was attended by Gandhi, AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi, general secretary (organisation) Venugopal and senior leaders from the state Chennithala and Satheesan.
On Sunday, both Satheesan and Chennithala returned to Kerala while Venugopal remained in the capital.
