Celebrations erupt across Kerala after VD Satheesan named Chief Minister

Celebrations erupted across Kerala on Thursday after V D Satheesan was selected by the Congress High Command as the next Chief Minister of the state.

Satheesan was at the Contonment House in Thiruvananthapuram, the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition, when AICC leaders announced it in New Delhi.

Speaking after the results, Satheesan said he had assured Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that he would bring the UDF back to power, adding that he was satisfied to have kept his word.

For many Congress workers in Kerala, the roots of this victory trace back to the difficult months after the 2021 defeat in the Assembly polls, when Rahul Gandhi backed Satheesan as Leader of the Opposition.