The BJP on Thursday targeted the Congress over its decision to appoint V D Satheesan as the next chief minister of Kerala, alleging that the development exposed deep internal divisions within the party and indicated that the state would be run by a ‘remote-controlled government’.
The Congress had earlier announced Satheesan’s name after days of speculation surrounding the leadership issue in Kerala. The decision was formally declared at a press conference in New Delhi by AICC Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi along with the party’s central observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik.
Satheesan was among the leading contenders for the post alongside K C Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala. Reacting to the announcement, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed in a post on X that the Congress high command had imposed its decision on the Kerala unit rather than allowing local leaders to decide.
“It is evident that Kerala’s chief ministerial face has been chosen in New Delhi and not in Kerala itself. The announcement coming directly from the AICC headquarters in Delhi proves this will be a remote-controlled government,” he said.
Also read: Congress names V D Satheesan as next CM of Keralam
Poonawalla further alleged that there were disagreements within the Gandhi family regarding the leadership selection in Kerala and claimed Satheesan emerged as the choice because of ‘pressure from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’, who he alleged was opposed to Rahul Gandhi’s preferred candidate, K C Venugopal.
“Priyanka Vadra was completely against Rahul Gandhi’s choice of K C Venugopal. There was a major family dispute over who would have the final say in Kerala,” he alleged.
The BJP spokesperson also attributed the delay in the Congress announcement to internal rifts and pressure from alliance partners. “After 11 days, the Congress leadership in Delhi has finally declared V D Satheesan as its leader, which effectively makes him the next chief minister. This decision came under pressure from the Jamaat and the IUML, who had reportedly issued strong warnings to the Congress. This clearly reflects the influence of Muslim vote-bank politics,” Poonawalla claimed.
Drawing comparisons with the Congress government in Karnataka, he alleged that factionalism would continue to plague the party in Kerala as well.
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