Kerala: V D Satheesan is opposition leader, ends Congress's Chandy-Chennithala era

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After days of dithering following the rout in the recent assembly polls, the grand old party finally decided to heed the sentiments of its rank and file for leadership change, with the AICC on Saturday announcing the appointment of V D Satheesan as leader of the opposition. He replaces Ramesh Chennithala.
Though Chennithala and veteran Oommen Chandy lobbied hard to maintain the status quo, Rahul Gandhi's intervention tilted the scales in favour of Satheesan, a threetime MLA and one of the most articulate and accessible faces of the Congress party but, most importantly, someone not too closely identified with any of the 'groups' whose chronic factionalism is one of the reasons for the party's drubbing at the polls.
Soon after his appointment, Satheesan vowed to rejuvenate his party and UDF and to take everybody along.
Got support from both ‘I’ & ‘A’ groups
Notably, he also said for the record that he would support the LDF government in the Covid fight and also oppose communalism of, both, the majority and minority kind.
Satheesan’s appointment has evoked considerable enthusiasm within his party, while major UDF constituents like the Muslim League have wholeheartedly welcomed his elevation. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan too commended Satheesan. “He has a good track record as an able parliamentarian. Given his performance in the Assembly all these years, Satheesan is likely to emerge as an excellent leader of opposition,” the CM said.
The AICC committee headed by Mallikarjuna Kharge who had personally met MLAs, MPs and other leaders of the party had submitted a report to the party high command which said the leaders in the state have demanded a leadership change. In the Congress parliamentary party, Satheesan managed to upset group equations and garner support from both ‘I’ and ‘A’ groups, which made his choice easier for the party high command. Satheesan also got the support of most senior leaders from the party.
Both Chennithala and Chandy lobbied intensively with the national leadership to prevent Satheesan from becoming opposition leader. They were even ready to find a third alternative if the AICC was firm on changing the opposition leader. Chandy had sought Chennithala’s continuation as opposition leader, since he wanted to replace Mullappally Ramachandran with his trusted lieutenant K C Joseph as KPCC president.
Chennithala is reportedly unhappy over his unceremonious exit. He has communicated to leaders close to him that had the high command alerted him in advance, he would have quit on his own.