In the annals of Kerala’s political history, VD Satheesan is a name synonymous with resilience. Yet, in the quiet corners of Alappuzha resides Antony M. John, a man who holds a unique distinction: he remains the first person to have ever handed the designated Chief Minister an electoral defeat.

The year was 1985, and the setting was the Mahatma Gandhi University Union elections. Satheesan, then an ambitious undergraduate at Sacred Heart College, Thevara, stood as the champion of the Kerala Students Union (KSU). His opponent, John—a postgraduate student at St Berchmans College, Changanassery—represented a formidable alliance between the KSC and the SFI.

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The contest was a high-stakes affair, drawing in future political heavyweights to manage the campaigns. While the KSU faction deployed the likes of Joseph Vazhackan, the left-leaning alliance countered with V. Sivankutty. When the ballots from the 115 councillors were tallied, John emerged victorious with 62 votes to Satheesan’s 53.

Despite the narrow nine-vote defeat, which saw Satheesan take up the mantle of Opposition Leader within the student council, the rivalry never turned bitter. Decades later, the bond forged in the heat of student activism endures. John recalls that even today, Satheesan never misses an opportunity at public gatherings to jokingly point him out as the man who first taught him the sting of defeat.

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Having since traded the cut and thrust of business for a quiet retirement, John last shared a moment with his old adversary at a funeral in Pala, shortly before the recent Assembly results were declared—a testament to a friendship that has outlasted the shifting tides of political fortune.