The BJP on Thursday (May 14, 2026) hit out at the Congress over its decision to appoint VD Satheesan as the next Kerala chief minister, saying the move exposed “infighting” within the party and showed it would be a “remote government”.
The Congress named Mr. Satheesan as the next Chief Minister of Kerala, ending days of tension and speculation over the matter.
In a post on X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that the Congress party’s central leadership imposed the decision on the state unit.
“It is clear that the chief ministerial face of Kerala was decided in New Delhi and not in Kerala. The announcement was made from the AICC headquarters in Delhi, which shows that it will be a remotely controlled ‘sarkar’ (government),” he said.
The BJP leader also claimed that there was a rift in the Gandhi family over the leadership election in Kerala, alleging that Mr Satheesan was chosen because of “pressure from Priyanka Gandhi” who “did not want Rahul Gandhi’s candidate KC Venugopal at any cost”.
“Priyanka Vadra was dead set against Rahul Gandhi who chose KC Venugopal. In fact, there was a huge family fight over who would call the shots in Kerala,” he claimed.
“After 11 days finally Congress party from Delhi announced the name of VD Satheesan ji as its leader which means he will be the next CM. This was done under two pressures. Jamaat and IUML read riot act to Congress. So this is a clear influence of Muslim vote bank,” Mr Poonawalla stated. — PTI
