'Party First': What KC Venugopal Told Rahul Gandhi On High Command's Kerala CM Decision

Last Updated:May 14, 2026, 12:42 IST

Ahead of the announcement naming VD Satheesan as Kerala CM, KC Venugopal told Rahul Gandhi that the party comes first for him, while backing the Congress high command’s decision.

After days of intense lobbying, speculation and closed-door consultations in Delhi, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal conveyed to senior leader Rahul Gandhi that the party’s interests should take precedence over individual ambitions ahead of the formal announcement naming VD Satheesan as Kerala’s next Chief Minister.

According to what top sources told CNN-News18, Venugopal told Rahul Gandhi that “party first, will do for party and govt", while also indicating concerns that the government could become “shaky" if the Satheesan camp was unhappy with the leadership choice.

Sources further said former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was also consulted during the final phase of deliberations, and advised that the post should go to someone “able to keep the party together".

The Congress on Thursday formally announced Satheesan as the next Chief Minister of Kerala, ending uncertainty that had persisted since the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) secured a sweeping mandate in the Assembly elections earlier this month.

The decision was announced in Delhi by AICC Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi, along with senior observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik.

‘WE ARE GOING TO SUPPORT VD SATHEESAN’

Soon after the announcement, Venugopal publicly closed ranks behind the party leadership and the new Chief Minister-designate, seeking to send a message of unity after the prolonged suspense.

“We are going to support VD Satheesan, extend all support to him," Venugopal said while speaking to reporters.

He also added, “We are with VD Satheesan."

Reiterating that he stood firmly behind the Congress leadership’s decision, Venugopal said, “My stand is with high command."

He added that there “should be no doubt" that he remained “a loyalist of the Congress party".

Seeking to dismiss reports of friction within the Kerala Congress unit, Venugopal further told reporters, “High command decision followed on ground," and insisted, “There is no such issue in the Congress party."

In another significant remark interpreted as an attempt to cool factional tensions, the Congress leader said, “I have no wish to make any image bigger than the party."

DAYS OF DELIBERATIONS END

The Congress leadership took more than a week to finalise the Kerala chief ministerial face despite the UDF winning 102 seats in the 140-member Assembly on May 4.

The Congress itself won 63 seats, while allies Indian Union Muslim League secured 22, Kerala Congress eight and the Revolutionary Socialist Party three.

The three principal contenders for the top post were Satheesan, Venugopal and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.

The central leadership held multiple rounds of consultations with party MLAs and senior state leaders before arriving at a final decision.

The uncertainty continued even after observers Maken and Wasnik met MLAs and gathered feedback from legislators.

Rahul Gandhi also met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for around 40 minutes a day before the announcement, after which the party indicated deliberations had concluded.

SATHEESAN’S RISE IN KERALA POLITICS

Satheesan, a lawyer by profession, entered the Kerala Assembly from Paravur in 2001 and built a reputation as one of the Congress party’s strongest debaters in the House.

Following the UDF’s defeat in the 2021 Assembly elections, he was chosen as Leader of the Opposition, a role that eventually strengthened his position within the party.

IANS reported that Satheesan aggressively targeted the Left government over issues ranging from the gold smuggling controversy to law-and-order concerns, helping him emerge as one of the most visible anti-Left faces in Kerala politics.

His relative distance from the Congress party’s traditional factional camps also helped him attract younger leaders and workers seeking generational change.

Satheesan won the 2026 Assembly election from Paravur for a sixth consecutive term, defeating CPI candidate ET Taison Master by over 20,000 votes.

He has represented the constituency continuously since 2001 and previously served as vice-president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.

The Congress Legislature Party is expected to meet Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to stake a claim to form the next government in the state.

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