Congress Set Kerala Cm Decision After 10-Day Delay
The Congress was set to settle its Kerala cm pick at 1 pm on May 14, when newly elected MLAs were due to meet at the KPCC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram to choose the legislative party leader. The gathering came after a 10-day delay in finalising the chief ministerial candidate.
Jairam Ramesh said the development followed Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi on Wednesday, a 40-minute discussion after Gandhi had also spoken with leaders from Kerala and around eight former state unit chiefs. The party’s delay had already left Kerala without a cabinet 10 days after the assembly poll results.
Kharge Meeting In New Delhi
The Congress Legislature Party meeting was scheduled a day after KPCC chief Sunny Joseph announced it. The party was expected to name its legislative party leader at the meeting, which would set the course for the chief minister choice inside the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
The UDF secured a two-thirds majority in the Kerala Assembly elections, but the selection process was slowed by internal lobbying and protests from grassroots workers. Among the prominent contenders were K C Venugopal, V D Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala.
V D Satheesan And The Contenders
V D Satheesan, the outgoing Leader of Opposition, was one of the main contenders for the post. K C Venugopal had also thrown his hat in the ring and had the support of a majority of Congress MLAs, adding to the pressure on the leadership to settle the question quickly.
The choice was not only about party balance inside the legislature. It also had practical consequences outside the Assembly, where the absence of a minister was already affecting the general education department.
General Education Department
V Sivankutty said on Thursday that the absence of a cabinet 10 days after the assembly poll results had created a crisis in the general education department. In a Facebook post, he wrote: “Absence of minister affecting General Education Dept functioning” and said the lack of a minister had slowed decision-making while lakhs of students and parents waited for SSLC results.
He also said school fitness activities were in disorder as the academic year was about to begin. For families waiting on the SSLC results, the immediate question was whether the party’s meeting in Thiruvananthapuram would finally end the delay and put a minister in place for the department now facing the pressure.
