New Delhi: Congress leader VD Satheesan spoke to NDTV Monday after the party-led United Democratic Front all but confirmed victory in the 2026 Kerala Assembly election, displacing the outgoing CPIM-led Left Front for a first state poll win since 2001.
In a brief call, Satheesan expressed happiness the Congress' internal predictions - 100+ seats - had been achieved and said the win was built on the promise of a secular government. Satheesan - credited with orchestrating the Congress' campaign - also refused to be drawn on speculation over the new chief minister, insisting it "will be decided by Congress High Command".
"There is a procedure. I am not a competent person to say anything about who will be chief minister," he said. However, the Congress is seen as having a glut of options - from Satheesan to ex-union minister and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor.
"There was anti-incumbency again ... we have been criticising it for a long time. We kept saying we have alternatives. The UDF has alternatives (to allegations of misgovernance by outgoing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's administration)."
"The people believed us. In fiscal situation Kerala is vulnerable... in health... everywhere, and brain drain is happening. We made a detailed study on Left's mistakes and how to address them (and) that is how are going to implement what we promised to the people of Kerala."
Satheesan also said the Congress understood a fundamental aspect of Kerala - its secular nature. "Some extreme groups offered support but we said 'no, we don't want'. Across the state all communities voted for us... for the UDF because they know we are secular. This victory of the UDF is a declaration of Kerala being secular," he said.
"The BJP is not a force in Kerala," he stressed. "We will never accept communal forces. This is declaration by our state to the country - that the BJP has not say in Kerala."
Pressed on possible chief minister options, he said: "That will be decided by the Congress High Command. There is a procedure and I am not a competent person who can say anything about it or about who will be the next chief minister."
Satheesan did, however, stress the process of selection "should be very smooth".
The Congress-led UDF has recorded a thumping win in the Kerala election.
At 2 pm the alliance had won, or was ahead in, a staggering 87 of the state's 140 seats.
The LDF - which had been put on notice after its rival bloc swept local body elections in December - was a distant second with 38, while the Bharatiya Janata Party had 2 leads in a state it has never cracked.
