- 2 hours ago
After an eleven-day deadlock, the Congress high command has appointed a new Chief Minister for Kerala, ending intense lobbying and factional disputes.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00But tonight, I want to start at the very top with the big story.
00:04After days of intense lobbying, the wait is finally over for a chief minister for Kerala.
00:10The Congress finally, or Congress High Command, finally made up its mind.
00:14On Wednesday, the decision was announced.
00:16VD Satishan will be the next chief minister of Kerala.
00:20He takes oath on Monday.
00:22The big question, why did the appointment take so long?
00:25And what does the message convey?
00:27Is Satishan part of the Gen-Next leader that India's Grand Opposition Party is trying to now cultivate?
00:35Take a look at our top story tonight.
00:40After 11 days of suspense, endless lobbying, backroom power games,
00:45and a battle between the Kader's choice and the High Command's favourite,
00:50Kerala finally has its chief minister.
00:53Based on all these discussions, it has been decided that Sri VD Satishan be appointed as the leader of the
01:04CLP.
01:05Thank you so much.
01:07A six-time MLA and the aggressive face of the UDF campaign,
01:12Satishan has beaten Congress High Command's favourite and heavyweight KC Venugopal
01:17in a high-voltage leadership battle that kept the party on edge for over a week.
01:24Satishan also thanked KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chenithala,
01:27both contenders for the post, for extending him their support.
01:31I express my gratitude towards Congress President Rahulji.
01:37They have taken a decision with the blessings of Madam Soniaji.
01:41I am very grateful to them.
01:43I am very grateful to them.
01:45And I dedicate my chief ministership to the people of Kerala.
02:11Venugopal welcomed the decision and reaffirmed that the party and its workers are supreme to him.
02:17Full, wholeheartedly, I am welcoming that decision.
02:20I am congratulating VD Satishan for this position.
02:25I think that the people of Kerala have given a big verdict for the UDF.
02:30The government and the leadership of VD Satishan can fulfil the aspirations and promises of the people of Kerala.
02:38Sources say the battle was never straightforward.
02:41While Venugopal reportedly enjoyed strong backing from sections of the high command and many MLAs,
02:47Satishan had what Congress simply could not ignore.
02:51Grassroots momentum and public connect.
02:54So why the 11-day delay?
02:56The delay was driven by a deadlock between the camps backing VD Satishan and KC Venugopal,
03:02with MLAs and party cadres divided over the choice.
03:05The party was also trying to maintain factional balance and ensure a smooth transition of power after the UDF's massive
03:12victory.
03:13The Congress also held consultations with UDF allies,
03:17while cabinet formation and power-sharing talks further delayed the final decision.
03:27In the end, the Congress chose the leader the cadres wanted,
03:31the face voters identified with,
03:33and the man many in Kerala already saw as Chief Minister.
03:38With Shibhi Molkeji in Thiruvananthpuram, Bureau Report, India Today.
03:45And my colleague Shibhi spoke to VD Satishan soon after his name was announced.
03:50Listen in.
03:56Sir, a big moment for you in your life also.
04:00What's your reaction actually?
04:01I express my gratitude towards Congress President Rahulji.
04:07They have taken a decision with the blessings of Madam Soniaji.
04:11I'm very grateful to them.
04:13I'm very grateful to them.
04:14And I dedicate my chief ministership to the people of Kerala.
04:20And we have made many offers that we will start a new era.
04:27We will change Kerala.
04:29We will make changes.
04:31We will bring the Kerala as a number one state in India.
04:36That is our hope we will do for that.
04:40Sir, there was a slight delay and actually Congress supporters were a little upset with the celebration.
04:44So, is it time to give them?
04:46It's quite natural.
04:48Congress is a democratic party.
04:50The CLP meeting adopted a resolution and entrusted the Congress President to take a decision.
04:58All the leaders communicated.
05:02This is not a one-sided decision which is happening in BJP or CPM.
05:07Sir, do you think finally it's the people's verdict that has been accepted by them?
05:12Oh, that is...
05:13There was a strong public statement for you.
05:14Yeah, yeah.
05:15People are supporting the UDF.
05:18They wanted to make UDF government as a number one government.
05:24Their hope is that.
05:25And our team UDF, thousands of workers and leaders work together as a single party.
05:31I have already stated to you that our team UDF is the model to the entire country for the coalition
05:40politics.
05:41So, why did the Congress choose Satishan?
05:44Remember, the others were KC Venugopal, the all-powerful General Secretary organization close to Rahul Gandhi,
05:51and Ramesh Chenithala, the senior most leader.
05:54Well, one reason was he was the face of the UDF in the Assembly election.
05:58He was leader of the opposition, and he took the battle, many said, into the left camp.
06:03He also had the backing of key allies like the IUML, which won 22 seats, and the Kerala Congress, Joseph.
06:10He also seemingly now built a mass appeal for himself.
06:14Had a lot of support from party workers, civil society, and common people.
06:1861-year-old Satishan's rise marks a generational shift also in Kerala.
06:24He's the first chief minister born after independence that Kerala has had.
06:29So, that represents, again, an important shift.
06:31And he doesn't belong to any of the known factions of Kerala.
06:36So, that decision has, of course, led to many questions.
06:40What explains Congress's selection of VD Satishan?
06:44Did the delay take the sheen of the victory, the one big victory the Congress had in these Assembly elections?
06:49Will factionalism hurt the Congress?
06:51I want to get quick responses.
06:53Joining me now is Anand Kochukudi.
06:56He joins me from Kochi.
06:58Appreciate you joining us, Anand.
06:59Are you surprised that they chose VD Satishan ahead of someone like KC Venugopal, Rahul Gandhi's point person?
07:06What was the main factor in your view?
07:08I listed some out that worked according to you in favor of Satishan.
07:15Well, Rashti...
07:20Okay, we're trying to get that line to...
07:22I'm not surprised.
07:22I'm quite glad.
07:23Unlike Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan...
07:26Yeah, go ahead.
07:26Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan...
07:30Rajdeep, can you hear me?
07:31Yes, I can.
07:32Please go ahead.
07:33Yeah, so I'm glad that they took the right decision, even if it took 10 days coming.
07:39Unlike what happened in the past in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, even in Karnataka.
07:45So the people's mandate was in favor of VD Satishan.
07:50VD Satishan was the one who stitched up coalitions.
07:53He was the one who debunked the left narratives, who set narratives on the ground, and his narratives actually helped
08:01a lot in the UDF's win.
08:04He managed to get a lot of people who were outside the UDF's ambit, who were not UDF voters historically,
08:13to vote for the UDF, the women, the young people.
08:17He managed to capture people's imaginations.
08:19It was his face that was placed against Pinarai Vijayan.
08:25A lot of people, a couple of years ago, thought that it was difficult to dislodge Vijayan, because Vijayan had
08:31many things going for him.
08:33And over 10 years, he had acquired a certain kind of aura.
08:37So it was difficult to dislodge.
08:39Vijayan and Satishan managed to craft a different kind of narrative, which, you know, even after 10 years of Vijayan's
08:50rule, it took some doing from Satishan's part to ensure that the UDF could dream of a victory.
08:57The morale of the UDF workers was so...
09:03But there will be those, of course, who will say that he didn't have the...
09:08There will be those, of course, Anand who will say that Satishan did not have the support of MLAs, that
09:16most of the MLAs were with Mr. Casey Venugopal.
09:19Satishan is much younger than both Casey Venugopal and Chenitala.
09:23We don't know whether this also marks a shift in that sense in a generation.
09:28I'm also joined by Harish Beeran.
09:30He's Rajya Sabah, MP of the Indian Union Muslim League.
09:34Appreciate your joining us, Mr. Beeran.
09:36Your party went out of its way to support Mr. Satishan.
09:42Why?
09:42Why did you want Mr. Satishan to become the Chief Minister?
09:47Shri Rajdeep, he was the leader of opposition.
09:50Congress chose him as the leader of opposition in 2021.
09:56And the expectation of the party would have been that he will produce some results.
10:00And he started producing results in all the elections which happened after 2021.
10:05Be it the parliament, be it the local body, be it the bipoles which happened in the state of Kerala.
10:10It was the UDF's victory and UDF was winning by thumping majorities.
10:14And he was a leader who was leading in all fronts, whether it is inside the assembly, outside the assembly.
10:21So, a leader of opposition chosen by the Congress High Command who delivered for the Congress is the natural choice
10:28to become the Chief Minister.
10:29Because the BJP has already, BJP already, Haris has started a campaign that this is to, the IUML put pressure
10:38on the Congress to choose Mr. Satishan.
10:41That it was the Indian Union Muslim League which was insistent that Satishan become, otherwise they would create trouble for
10:48the new Chief Minister.
10:49There is no other argument for the BJP, sadly.
10:53And only this narrative is the one which is set up by the BJP.
10:58Rajdeep, if you are in Kerala or if you know somebody in Kerala who actually travels by public transport, you
11:05don't even have to ask anybody.
11:07It is the people who are saying, I mean, you know, in direct conversation, that they want somebody.
11:14I mean, here is somebody who has led the UDF to victory and that person who has led and who
11:18has fought hard for the UDF's victory should be made as the Chief Minister.
11:23He is actually a people's choice.
11:25It is not only the Congress's choice, it is not a choice of the allies of the UDF.
11:30He is actually people's choice to become the Chief Minister.
11:32Never in the history you must have seen that after the elections, people were actually in the streets that this
11:37man has to become the Chief Minister.
11:38Whereas the Congress High Command was completely in the scene of the matter and hats off to them that they
11:43made him as the Chief Minister.
11:45Because he is the one who led the entire front to the victory.
11:50He had narratives, he had policies, he knew how to attack the ruling front.
11:59And he said very, very categorically that secularism is an asset of the state and we don't want even a
12:06scar on that particular thing.
12:08And anybody who is attempting to make a scar on that particular asset of the state will not be spared,
12:13even if we lose the election.
12:15So that actually set the trend and tone for the election.
12:18And I think the youngsters supported that particular tone, which was said by Satish.
12:23So he was a natural choice.
12:25You're saying he's a natural choice, a people's choice, a final word, Anand, from you.
12:29Because traditionally the Congress has tended to go by, has tended to impose a Chief Minister or go by what
12:36the legislators want.
12:38Here they're broken with type.
12:40The legislators, MLAs, presumably were not in support of Satishan.
12:44They wanted KC Venugopal.
12:47And yet he's gone, he's become the people's choice.
12:50Does this suggest a change in approach to you, that you've gone by what the people wanted?
12:57Yeah, it is definitely a change in approach.
12:59But you have to understand that KC Venugopal managed to get so many loyalists, so many MLAs to support him,
13:06primarily by being Rahul Gandhi's confidant and having Rahul Gandhi's here.
13:11So if KC Venugopal wasn't in the position of General Secretary Organization, he wouldn't have this kind of backing within
13:21the party.
13:22The MLAs who have switched over to his camp, they all switched over after 2018 when he assumed the role
13:28of General Secretary Organization.
13:30So it was basically by extending patronage from the high command, by giving MLAs tickets, by giving positions in the
13:37party,
13:38that KC Venugopal managed the support of so many Emirates.
13:41This is not a, you know, it's a transactional thing.
13:44It's not a permanent loyalty that we had under K. Karunakaran or A.K. Anthony when leaders from the KSU,
13:50from the NSUI days would go into a camp and then, you know, there'd be lifelong loyalists.
13:57So it's a very, you know, the Congress has been in a flux in Kerala.
14:01In the last five years, many MLAs, many leaders have switched from one camp to the other.
14:06So, KC, sorry, so Satishan becoming chief minister, of course there'll be factional feuds with Satishan on one side
14:16and Venugopal on the other. Chanitala is staying away from the CLP meeting.
14:21So there'll be factional issues.
14:22But I think going ahead, you know, by heeding to the public sentiment,
14:27the party has taken the right decision.
14:30And in the long run, I think...
14:32It's not often that we say that about the Congress party, that they've taken the right decision.
14:39But what most analysts today, particularly from Kerala, are saying, it's the right decision.
14:44A final word from you, Biran, will the IUML now push for the lucrative portfolios?
14:50Or are you just okay that you've got the chief minister?
14:53Are you going to put pressure on this government in Kerala?
14:58See, we have never indulged in this pressure politics, Rajdeep.
15:04You know the history of IUML very well.
15:06I mean, we have been in coalition with the Congress for the last 50 years.
15:09Never we have put pressure.
15:11There have been a lot of questions as to whether we are going to have the deputy chief minister post.
15:15We have told many a times that we don't want any ornamental post like that.
15:18It is only after discussions in the UDF that there will be the ministerial berths and...
15:23So no deputy chief minister for the IUML?
15:27You are very clear about that.
15:28A quick answer.
15:30Yes.
15:31I mean, we have said it umpteen times.
15:33Not only me, my leaders have said it umpteen times that we are not for this ornamental post like the
15:38deputy chief minister.
15:38We are more bothered about how we are going to govern and how we are going to give welfare measures
15:44to the public.
15:45I'm going to leave it there.
15:47I appreciate you joining us.
15:48As I said, that completes the set of chief ministers that these election results have thrown up.
15:53Shuvendu Adhikari in West Bengal, Hemant Abhiswa Sarma in Assam, both BJP.
15:58You've got Vijay, the outsider in Tamil Nadu.
16:02And now VD Satishan, the generation next of the Congress.
16:06Thank you both very much for joining me.
Comments