By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
Ending days of suspense and intense wrangling, the Congress high command led by Rahul Gandhi on Thursday nominated senior party leader V D Satheesan (61) to become new Chief Minister of Kerala.
Satheesan, a lawyer, has represented the Paravur Assembly constituency in the Kerala since 2001. He was leader of the opposition since 2021. Satheesan practised law in the Kerala High Court for around 10 years in the 1990s. He is married to R. Lakshmi Priya, and the couple have a daughter Unnimaya.
The emergence of Satheesan as the new face of the Congress in Kerala marks one of the sharpest internal political shifts in the state’s recent history. Satheesan’s rise was shaped by a prolonged and difficult battle against senior Congress leaders K. C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, both of whom once appeared stronger contenders for the chief ministerial post during the election campaign.
For years, Kerala Congress politics revolved around factional camps and senior leadership equations. Chennithala was viewed as the natural claimant to the top post because of his long organisational experience and statewide network. Venugopal, though active in national politics, enjoyed strong influence within the Kerala unit because of his proximity to the central leadership in Delhi especially with the Gandhi family.
Satheesan initially appeared to be outside this power structure. The turning point came after the Congress-led UDF’s disappointing performance in the 2021 Assembly elections.
Satheesan quickly transformed himself from a compromise choice into the party’s most aggressive public face. He adopted a direct political style against the ruling Left Democratic Front government headed by Pinarayi Vijayan. By aggressively pursuing issues such as corruption allegations, financial controversies and governance failures, he succeeded in keeping the Congress politically relevant in a state where the Left had appeared dominant.