Picture Credit : @vdsatheesan/X
As Congress led UDF returned to to power in Kerala with a stunning election win with 102 seats out of 140 with new Chief Minister VD Satheesan there are challenges ahead . The selection of the new chief minister was noit an easy one too. The Congress leadership state unit and the high command held multiple meetings before arriving at an consensus on LoP V D Sathessan.
After the results waere announced on May 4 , it took nearly 10 days of intense, lobbying and show of strength from the CM aspirants. The likes of Party General Secretary and close aide of Rahul Gandhi, K C Venugopal MP throwing his hat into the ring along with Ramesh Chennithala. The long wait for CM announcement by the Congress became the talk in the political circles . And with camps emerging within many are doubting how long will the unity among the leaders remain?.
And Satheesan has his blue print ready as he reportedly stated ,“The people of Kerala have given us a big responsibility. They ended a 10-year-long Left rule and gave us power by helping us win 102 of the 140 assembly seats. So, what we promised to the public, we will fulfil one by one. “We will all work hard with devotion to improve the living standards of the people, change Kerala, create a new Kerala and start a ‘ puthu yugam’ (new era)”.
This attiribute has come to fore not without any reason. It has been played out in Congress ruled states one they come into power . In Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel had cold ties with party veteran T S Singh Deo. The lack of cohesion hit party and it lost power in 2023 to the BJP .
In Rajasthan , Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were at loggerheads and it hurt the party. It wa snot that Gehlot was never CM . Gehlot was Chief Minister of Rajasthan from 1998 to December 2003, then again from 2008 to December 2013, and later from 2018 to December 2023.Yet Gehlot was not willing to move on to the Genmeration Next. It may be recalled that in the run-up to the state assembly polls in 2018 it was Sachin Pilot who as state PCC chief galvanised the party with his youth appeal and freshness. But the Congress high command bowed to the wily Gehlot and named him CM overlooking Pilot. The result BJP wrested back the state.
In Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath govenment fell as he Nath fell out with Jyotiraditya Scindia forcing him to leave the party and join the BJP along with his loyal MLA’s.
In Karnataka, how long will current Chief Minister Siddaramaiah stay is a big question mark since Deputy CM D K Shivakumar has not not shied away from aspiring for the coveted post. How the Congress High command handles the power equation in Karnataka remains to be seen. Karnataka is also the home state of party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
So given this situation withn the Congress once in power , one hopes that kerala after such a big mandate for UDF , one has stable government and it fulfills the promises made to the electorate in letter in spirit. That will be the best gift to people for the mandate they have given.
VD Satheesan is no doubt the man of the moment . The onus is now on him how he leads and takes along his senior party leaders in the days ahead. Given the experiances of the states as oine had mentioned one is really keeping one’s fingers crossed . So watch this space .
