Who Will Be Kerala CM? Stuck With Problem Of Plenty, Congress Keeps Cards Close To Chest

Last Updated:March 31, 2026, 13:03 IST

Given the multipolar nature of the Congress in Kerala, the bigger question is whether the Gandhis can keep the flock together

Who will be the chief minister of Kerala in case Congress wins? This is a question the Grand Old Party doesn’t want to address, given the many claimants.

If the recent release of UDF’s campaign for the polls gives an indication, it seems Rahul Gandhi is pitching for his closest aide KC Venugopal. The campaign showed KC, as he is fondly called, by the side of Rahul Gandhi. To those who watched the film in Kerala Congress, it was clear that Venugopal had a special place and could be the chosen one. The veteran leader has been spending a lot of time in the state, meeting rebels and disgruntled party members and visiting their homes to convince them to return to the party fold.

In a fractured Kerala Congress, every neta counts. But the state, like many Congress states, faces a problem of plenty. As of now, one can rattle off at least six names as chief minister probables.

Former LoP Ramesh Chennithala is also a frontrunner. So is current LoP VD Satheesan. Satheesan is considered quite close to Venugopal and if Congress decides to opt for an MLA and not MP as chief minister, Satheesan could be the man. Even then, it’s believed he will be KC’s man in Kerala.

At one point, Shashi Tharoor’s name was also tossed around as chief minister probable. But there is a trust issue with the high command, and he is virtually out of the race. KPCC president K Sudhakaran and K Muraleedharan are other names doing the rounds.

The Congress does not want to name a CM pick for obvious reasons. It has burnt its fingers in Punjab once by naming Charanjit Singh Channi as chief minister ahead of polls. The results were for all to see. Of all the poll-bound states, it’s only in Kerala that the top leadership has hopes of winning and it wouldn’t want to ruin the chances by pre-empting names.

The other issue is that Pinarayi Vijayan is not a dead factor in the state. Even his harshest critics admit that he has a lot of steel left in him and should not be taken lightly. Congress, at this point, cannot afford to pitch a chief ministerial face who would be involved in a face-off with Vijayan.

The bigger issue is that the headache may not end even if the UDF wins and chooses a chief minister. Given the multipolar nature of the Congress in Kerala, the bigger question is whether the Gandhis can keep the flock together. If yes, for how long? Or will Kerala be another Karnataka story?

News elections Who Will Be Kerala CM? Stuck With Problem Of Plenty, Congress Keeps Cards Close To Chest

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