VD Satheesan: New leader of Opposition in Kerala marks a generational shift in Congress

The AICC nominated Satheesan as the leader of the party's parliamentary party in the Kerala assembly, said KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran. (Image: Twitter/@vdsatheesan)

Bringing hope of fresh air to the state unit which is badly damaged in the second wave of the Left Democratic Front led by Pinarayi Vijayan, the Congress Party decided to appoint VD Satheesan as its leader in Kerala Assembly. The announcement comes 21 days after the results of the Assembly elections followed by a series of discussions amidst the confusion. Satheesan will be the leader of Opposition, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the 15th state Assembly.  "The AICC on Saturday nominated Satheesan as the leader of the party's parliamentary party in the Kerala assembly," said KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran.

Marking a generational shift in the Congress and the UDF coalition it leads in the House, Satheesan replaces veteran Ramesh Chennithala. According to political observers, a similar generational shift happened in the state Congress in 1967, when a new leader came as the leader of its nine-member parliamentary party -- K Karunakaran, who later came to be popularly known as ' Leader'. The decision came after most of the newly elected MLAs preferred a change in House leadership. AICC observers Mallikarjun Kharge and R Vaithilingam had arrived in Kerala after the Assembly election results and held one-on-one discussions with all the 21 Congress MLAs. Of these, at least 12 are reported to have chosen Satheesan over Chennithala. There were reports that the faction led by former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy offered his support to Chennithala.

Satheesan will be leading a 41-member UDF comprising the Muslim League, Kerala Congress and Kerala Congress (J). The Opposition also has one member each from NCK, a split away faction from NCP and RMP, a split away faction from CPM in the Kerala Assembly, compared to the 47-member UDF led by Ramesh Chennithala from 2016 to 2021. The Muslim League has 15 members.

The state was seen as Congress' best bet in the elections, especially due to the 'alternate rule of LDF and UDF' phenomenon in the last four decades. But the party had to face a  humiliating defeat by the 'Pinarayi juggernaut.'

Satheesan, 56, was elected from Paravur constituency in Ernakulam district for a fifth consecutive term. He had served as the vice-president of the state unit and AICC secretary in the past. He is the first leader of Opposition in the state from a seat in Eranakulam district, incidentally, which sent eight members including Satheesan out of the total 21 Congress MLAs.

Satheesan started his electoral politics with a defeat in 1996 in Paravur. A brilliant orator and voracious reader, he was also the president of the PAC and estimate committees in the last Assembly.

Satheesan rose through the Congress ranks from the Kerala Students Union (KSU), like Ramesh Chennithala. He, a former chairman of Mahatma Gandhi University Students Union (1986-1987) has also served as the secretary for National Students Union (NSU). He is a double postgraduate, one in social sciences from Rajagiri College of Social Sciences Kalamassery and the other in law from Kerala University.

Satheesan, a native of Nettur in Kochi Corporation, has been part of the  'I' faction and later with the Ramesh Chennithala faction in Congress. However, he was not associated with any groups in the party for almost a decade. He began to keep a distance from the factions after the  2011 elections. Neither the group nor the party considered him to the UDF cabinet in 2011, despite his extraordinary performance in many a debate for his party in the Assembly and outside especially the one with the then Finance Minister Thomas Issac.