<p>Thiruvananthapuram: After a thumping victory in the Assembly elections, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) may face a key challenge in finalising the Chief Minister as well as give due accommodation for all the coalition parties.</p><p>UDF chairman and Leader of Opposition <a href="https://deccanherald.com/tags/v-d-satheesan">V D Satheesan</a> could be the key choice to the post as he successfully led UDF by reiterating that 'team UDF' will win over 100 seats and was even ready to make a challenge that he would go on political exile if the UDF could not achieve a decisive victory.</p>.Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 | Congress facing a problem of plenty for top post.<p>But there have been overt and covert campaigns by supporters of senior leader Ramesh Chennithala as well as AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.</p><p>Satheesan said after the election results on Monday that he was not going to stake any claims as the party has an usual procedure to finalise the Chief Minister.</p>.Assembly Elections 2026 | Win in Kerala a lifeline for Congress which has finally something to cheer about.<p>Some senior party leaders had earlier openly mooted Chennithala and Venugopal as preferable Chief Minister candidates. Venugopal's proximity with AICC top leaders like Rahul Gandhi and his influence among the elected members would be decisive factors. </p><p>But his rival camps had been campaigning that since Venugopal is not an MLA his elevation to Chief Minister post could lead to two bypolls, one for electing him as MLA and another for replacing the Alappuzha MP post that he will have to vacate.</p><p><br>AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunsi, who is in Kerala, will be soon initiating talks with elected members of the Congress.</p><p>Opinion of the coalition partners could also play a key role. IUML supremo Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal recently backed the opinion poll results that highlighted Satheesan as the most favoured Congress leader to become Chief Minister. </p><p>With a host of senior leaders like Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph and former KPCC chief K Muraleedharan winning elections and coalition partners like IUML and Kerala Congress (Joseph) likely to seek more Cabinet berths in view of the impressive performance, the Congress might be also facing a major challenge in accommodating all.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: After a thumping victory in the Assembly elections, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) may face a key challenge in finalising the Chief Minister as well as give due accommodation for all the coalition parties.</p><p>UDF chairman and Leader of Opposition <a href="https://deccanherald.com/tags/v-d-satheesan">V D Satheesan</a> could be the key choice to the post as he successfully led UDF by reiterating that 'team UDF' will win over 100 seats and was even ready to make a challenge that he would go on political exile if the UDF could not achieve a decisive victory.</p>.Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 | Congress facing a problem of plenty for top post.<p>But there have been overt and covert campaigns by supporters of senior leader Ramesh Chennithala as well as AICC general secretary K C Venugopal.</p><p>Satheesan said after the election results on Monday that he was not going to stake any claims as the party has an usual procedure to finalise the Chief Minister.</p>.Assembly Elections 2026 | Win in Kerala a lifeline for Congress which has finally something to cheer about.<p>Some senior party leaders had earlier openly mooted Chennithala and Venugopal as preferable Chief Minister candidates. Venugopal's proximity with AICC top leaders like Rahul Gandhi and his influence among the elected members would be decisive factors. </p><p>But his rival camps had been campaigning that since Venugopal is not an MLA his elevation to Chief Minister post could lead to two bypolls, one for electing him as MLA and another for replacing the Alappuzha MP post that he will have to vacate.</p><p><br>AICC general secretary in charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunsi, who is in Kerala, will be soon initiating talks with elected members of the Congress.</p><p>Opinion of the coalition partners could also play a key role. IUML supremo Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal recently backed the opinion poll results that highlighted Satheesan as the most favoured Congress leader to become Chief Minister. </p><p>With a host of senior leaders like Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Sunny Joseph and former KPCC chief K Muraleedharan winning elections and coalition partners like IUML and Kerala Congress (Joseph) likely to seek more Cabinet berths in view of the impressive performance, the Congress might be also facing a major challenge in accommodating all.</p>