VD Satheesan appointed Kerala CM

The Congress party on Thursday named VD Satheesan as the next Chief Minister of Kerala. The decision was announced in New Delhi at a press conference by AICC in-charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunsi, party’s central observers for the State, Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik, as well as Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh. The three main contenders for the post of CM were Satheesan, KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala. The Government will take oath on May 18, said Satheesan.

“The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) had met in Thiruvananthapuram on May 7, 2026 and had unanimously resolved to authorise Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to appoint the new leader of the CLP in the State,” Dasmunsi said. Accordingly, the Congress president, she said. “Based on all these discussions, it has been decided that VD Satheesan be appointed as the leader of the CLP,” Dasmunsi said.

On Thursday afternoon, the CLP in Thiruvananthapuram, unanimously passed a resolution electing Kerala CM-designate Satheesan as its leader in the Assembly.

The resolution was moved by KPCC chief Sunny Joseph and seconded by senior party leader Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan. Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala was absent from the meeting, but he gave a letter supporting Satheesan.

Former LoP in the State Assembly, Satheesan (61), was a student leader and is an MLA from 2001. He is a lawyer. A decision on the next CM had been pending since May 4, when the Congress-led UDF bagged 102 seats out of the 140, which is more than a two-thirds majority. The Congress has 63 MLAs in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. Its allies, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has 22, Kerala Congress (KEC) has eight and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) three.