Kerala was in a political stalemate for ten days – and this delay in reaching a consensus for the chief minister’s post was hard to understand, given the unambiguous victory for the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). Deepa Dasmunshi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Kerala, broke the chief ministerial impasse in a press briefing on Thursday (May 14) by announcing V.D. Satheesan as the chief minister-designate.This announcement transformed the political mood of the state in a jiffy, with Satheesan supporters emerging jubilant. Sixty-two-year-old Satheesan is a six-time legislator from the Paravur assembly constituency in Ernakulam district. He replaced his party colleague Ramesh Chennithala as the opposition leader in the assembly in the second Pinarayi Vijayan government (2021-2026), and has ever since been preparing for the top post. The contest for the chief minister’s post within the party, against K.C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala, was not an easy one for Satheesan.The journey began quietly – he was, after all, taking on Pinarayi Vijayan, who had just won a second consecutive term as chief minister and carried the celebrated tag of ‘Iratta Chankan‘ (a man with two hearts), along with an unquestioned and unprecedented grip over the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)].Satheesan didn’t take the familiar route. He didn’t choose the masculine way, which had become a natural choice for many by then. He kept his Ernakulam accent intact rather than smoothing it into something more formal, and that turned out to work in his favour. His style of functioning, too, remained organic. This slowly gained him acceptance among the wider politically enlightened public of the state, who could differentiate between autocracy and political resolve, between popularity and worship. Also read: Congress Picks V.D. Satheesan as Kerala Chief Minister After 10 Days of SuspenseChennithala had been over-focused on corruption allegations against the first Pinarayi government, while Satheesan meticulously focused on corruption allegations (AI camera project, Kerala Fibre Optic Network- K-FON, etc.), flaws in governance (the state’s financial management, recurring medical negligence cases, police excesses, etc.) and strategic politics. For example, the allegation of a CPI(M)-BJP deal was not consistently raised by Congress leaders ten years ago. However, Satheesan, during his tenure as the leader of opposition, steadily built the argument, finally to make it a campaign weapon against the Left in the elections. Chennithala actively pitched in with Satheesan in building this narrative; it was later echoed by Venugopal and other leaders.Satheesan had also been consistent in building up other narratives – that Pinarayi switched from minority to majority appeasement after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, that an unholy nexus exists between Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Pinarayi Vijayan citing Kerala signing up for PM SHRI scheme without disclosing it to the alliance partners, that the chief minister’s office interfered in sabotaging the investigation in the Sabarimala gold theft case, and lately that ‘real’ communists had lost faith in Pinarayi and the Left government, to mention a few.KPCC president Sunny Joseph greets party leader V.D. Satheesan after the latter was announced as the next chief minister of Kerala, at KPCC office in Thiruvananthapuram on May 14, 2026. Photo: PTI.He also effectively challenged the CPI(M) for not taking action against its leaders involved in Sabarimala gold theft case, the political intention behind the Global Ayyappa Sangamam that witnessed Pinarayi’s metamorphosis from a ‘renaissance’ leader to a pragmatic politician, and if the government would dare to change the affidavit given at the Supreme Court backing young women’s entry into the Sabarimala shrine (the government modified its stance seeking the court to decide on the matter only after assessing opinions of social reformers, legal experts and religious experts when the election around the corner). At the same time, Satheesan had been assertive that the disputed land in Munambam in Ernakulam is not Waqf property, and accused the Kerala chief minister of using self-proclaimed Ezhava-community leader Vellappally Natesan for creating a communal divide and hit out at the latter for his divisive remarks against minority communities. Notably, Pinarayi didn’t counter Vellappally despite the latter reiterating his blatant communal remarks. In contrast, the former Kerala chief minister openly stated that Vellappally had upheld the values of social reformer Sree Narayana Guru and had taken a car trip with him at the Global Ayyappa Sangamam. Interestingly, in the past, Pinarayi had called Vellappally Kerala’s Pravin Togadia. These acts by Pinarayi were disheartening for many on the Left. At the same time, this enhanced Satheesan’s political image. Satheesan could also counter or come out with an alternative for Pinarayi’s Nava Kerala (new or modern Kerala) with his Puthuyuga (a new era) perspective. He took out a 25-day statewide campaign from February to March starting from Kasaragod ahead of the elections, openly reassuring his claim of winning the elections. In fact, he became more confident, which didn’t go down well even within his party. He even went one step ahead and said that there would be Vismayangal (wonders) before the elections. CPI (M) rebels T.K. Govindan, V. Kunhikrishnan, and G. Sudhakaran secured a decisive victory in the election with UDF backing, substantiating Satheesan’s claim about ‘wonders’. The senior Congress leader also reiterated that he would go into political exile if the UDF lost the elections, and even if the alliance failed to win 100 of the 140 seats.His claims, he would say, were all based on Team UDF’s efforts, something he effectively pushed instead of projecting himself as the sole leader. The term Team UDF was not considered as serious, it began gaining acceptance after the UDF’s victory in the Nilambur by-poll held in June 2025. This again saw Satheesan’s consistency in building, pushing and establishing narratives and setting up perspectives.Artists paint a wall graffiti ahead of the Puthu Yuga Yathra (New Era March) led by V.D. Satheesan under the UDF in Kochi on Feb. 1, 2026. Photo: PTI.Rarely a day went by without a press statement, a media byte, or a press conference from him. The opposing political ecosystem mocked him for his consistent interaction with the media, but Satheesan, since he assumed the chair of opposition leader, had upgraded his skills and sharpened his vision. He would credit Team UDF for everything, while the entire Left ecosystem admired only one leader, Pinarayi Vijayan, which was also reflected in his larger than life hoardings erected across the state.The Left went beyond mocking and targeting Satheesan, resorting to outright character assassination by calling him ‘Nunesan’ (a liar). Lies should be exposed and called out in politics, too, but through meaningful debates and by presenting and substantiating facts. Instead, the CPI(M), from state secretary M.V. Govindan, to its social media members, resorted to referring to Satheesan as Nunesan indefinitely, which had created a counter-productive impact on the electorate, as evident from the mandate. Multiple Facebook pages were opened to take this to the maximum extent while Satheesan kept on talking politics. Not that he was not fazed, he was. He even would lament about the personal attack, which he did in an interview as well, after the party’s resounding victory. There were occasions when he lost his temper with the media, became intolerant and arrogant about questions, took things personally, which were unbecoming of a political figure, but he was swift to correct. When Pinarayi rejected Satheesan’s challenge for an open debate, clarifying that he thought of it as a Facebook debate, not a face-to-face one, the latter expressed ‘deep disappointment’ over the stepping back, not attempting a personal attack. Nevertheless, Satheesan turned to a personal attack by calling Pinarayi ‘Nunarayi’ (a liar), hardly two weeks before the elections. In the assembly too, Satheesan had once told Pinarayi that “we are not afraid of the old Vijayan and the present Vijayan.” He also holds the credit of taking a debate outside the assembly with former finance minister Thomas Isaac on lotteries, when he was an opposition MLA. This non-conservative style drew a large chunk of youth towards him within the Congress, and earned him broader public acceptance.It remains to be seen whether Satheesan will keep upholding his pro-environment stance against big projects, will not dilute his ‘secular Kerala’ stance for political pragmatism, and will stand his ground in Congress politics against pressure from within and outside.Saritha S. Balan is a senior journalist and political strategist based in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.