As the Congress leadership remained deadlocked for more than a week over the choice of Kerala chief minister, Vadasherry Damodaran Satheesan, 61, had stayed quietly hopeful from day one.
After all, not only did he see himself as the “people’s choice”, he had the support of the Indian Union Muslim League, the second-largest ally in the Congress-led United Democratic Front that had swept the Assembly polls.
Satheesan has been known for his tenacity and his commitment to his voters and the party since his political debut in 1996.
A young Satheesan had then lost to CPI candidate P. Raju in the Assembly elections from North Paravur, a Left bastion in Ernakulam district, by the narrow margin of 1,116 votes. But undeterred, he had stayed put in the constituency and won all the six subsequent elections there, from 2001 till 2026.
His standing and visibility rose after he became the leader of the Opposition in the Assembly in 2021. He kept taking on the formidable Left chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan head on, leaving not just the veteran Marxist but his party CPM unnerved as well.
Satheesan’s gumption in addressing the chief minister as “Mr Vijayan” — rather than the usual and more reverential “Chief Minister” or “Comrade” — on the floor of the Assembly thrilled Congress workers. His articulacy lifted his image among the masses.
When, ahead of the April Assembly elections, Satheesan claimed that a slew of (pleasant) “surprises” were in the offing, even many within the Congress doubted him. But the surprises did some.
One, the elections saw almost half-a-dozen senior CPM leaders contest as Independents with Congress support. Two, the UDF won a record 102 of the 140 seats, bearing out Satheesan’s prediction of a 100-plus tally.
After being declared the chief minister-in-waiting on Thursday, ahead of the powerful All India Congress Committee general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal and Congress Working Committee leader Ramesh Chennithala, Satheesan termed it “God’s will”.
“The party has bestowed on me a huge responsibility. I’m indebted to Team UDF who helped me evolve me into who I’m today,” he said. “It’s not me alone but Team UDF who should decide on the cabinet.”
Satheesan will now have to brace for sharper attacks from the Left and the BJP. But the biggest political challenge before him is to placate a wounded Chennithala, a politician of stature and influence who had, aged 28 in 1985, become the youngest minister in the K. Karunakaran ministry.
A Congress source told The Telegraph that Chennithala had informed the leadership he did not wish to be included in Satheesan’s cabinet.
Satheesan’s biggest governance challenge would be to figure out how to move forward with an “empty treasury” — a parting gift from the Vijayan government.
He also faces the obligation of implementing his promise of a hiked incentive for Asha workers — community health volunteers — who had staged a protest in front of the secretariat for close to 10 months.
That apart, the Satheesan government will have to make good on the five-point promises in the election manifesto, which include free rides for women on state transport corporation buses.