Amid the heightened political activities, the AICC has summoned Satheesan, veteran leader Ramesh Chennithala and Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph to Delhi to be part of the discussions on the subject on Saturday.
AICC observers Mukul Wasnik and Ajay Maken, who met the 63 newly elected MLAs in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, dropped non-verbal hints about Venugopal being preferred by more MLAs than Satheesan, a claim hotly contested across cadres and triggering protests in parts of Kerala. One Congress worker even attempted self-immolation in Kottayam, creating a tense situation in the town.
Satheesan, as the leader of Opposition, tightened his grip on the party organization during Pinarayi Vijayan’s second term and, often cornered the LDF government with sharp campaigns around specific issues. The six-term MLA from Paravur ran a spirited fight against the Left government, emerging as a serious challenger to Vijayan, and as a potential CM face.
Venugopal, who represents Alappuzha in the Lok Sabha, has also been nursing ambitions to be the CM. Political observers say if a good number of MLAs are backing him for the CM’s post it is because they think they owe their party ticket to him as he had a big say in the distribution of tickets. The AICC leader is leveraging it now.
Satheesan, on the other hand, is said to be firm that he would accept nothing less than the CM’s post. If the party decides on someone else, then he will remain outside the Cabinet.
There are also speculations that Venugopal has agreed to withdraw from the race on the condition that the party must name veteran leader Ramesh Chennithala as the new CM. The 69-year-old Haripad MLA, was the leader of Opposition during LDF’s first term. He is said to have told the leadership that this was the last opportunity for him to be the CM while Satheesan is still relatively young. Venugopal may propose his name if his candidature faces heightened resistance.
