As the Congress leadership continues to struggle to form a government in Kerala, Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Monday (May 11) suggested that the state’s new chief minister could be announced within 48 hours.
“I think a decision will come within 48 hours,” he told ANI.
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Muraleedharan said that the Congress is “a democratic party, so they will apply all democratic methods – discuss with MLAs, coalition partners and tomorrow they will discuss with former PCC president…”
He said the “controversy” was evident as “a new generation is coming to the position of CM”.
“There is a new generation coming to the post of CM, so automatically there will be controversies, discussions, that’s natural…,” said Muraleedharan.
Who will be the next CM of Kerala?
Tensions and speculation over who will be Kerala’s next chief minister continued on Monday, with the delay in the Congress’ decision infuriating the UDF’s key constituent, the IUML, which warned that prolonged uncertainty over the matter could have political ramifications.
The AICC leadership recently held discussions in New Delhi with the three main contenders for the post of Chief Minister – Leader of the Opposition in the 15th Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan, AICC general secretary in-charge KC Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala – along with current KPCC president Sunny Joseph.
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To break the deadlock, sources told PTI, the top leadership has now decided to hold discussions with former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) presidents before finalizing the chief ministerial candidate.
Those invited by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to Delhi for discussions, likely on Tuesday, include Prime Minister Hassan, VM Sudheeran, Mullapally Ramachandran and K Muraleedharan, besides veteran leader and Kannur Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran, sources told PTI.
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The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a key component of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala, expressed strong displeasure over the delay in choosing a chief minister and warned that prolonged uncertainty could have political consequences.
Not for the first time
This is not the first time that the Congress has left the decision on the choice of chief minister hanging. When the Congress won the Karnataka polls in 2023, it witnessed intense lobbying, with the two biggest contenders – Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar – lobbying hard for the top post.
Eventually a compromise was reached and Siddaramaiah was appointed Chief Minister with Shivakumar as his deputy.
Such lobbying and delays were also witnessed in 2018 when the Congress won Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. While Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia were the chief ministerial candidates in Madhya Pradesh, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were the leading candidates in Rajasthan.
Eventually, after days of uncertainty, a compromise was reached and while Kamal Nath was selected in Madhya Pradesh, Gehlot was given the top post in Rajasthan with Pilot as his deputy.
Kerala Election Results 2026
The Congress has 63 MLAs in the 140-member assembly. IUML has 22 and his opinion will matter.
The Kerala Congress (KEC) won eight seats and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) three in the just-concluded polls.
The UDF won a total of 102 seats, more than a two-thirds majority.
(With input from agencies)
