Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 | V D Satheesan: A no-nonsense Congress leader takes centre stage

As V D Satheesan is reaffirming his leadership role in the Congress in Kerala, it also marks a generational shift in the grand old party.

Thiruvananthapuram: Vadassery Damodaran Satheesan (V D Satheesan), popularly known as VD and VDS, who shot to limelight as a 'green MLA' for his stern stand on environmental issues, later emerged as a no-nonsense leader for his stern stands against unethical issues and communalism, has emerged as the undisputed leader of Congress in Kerala.

His determination and confidence level has been proven once again as he was the lone Congress leader who was certain of a historic win for the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) with over 100 seats and even offered to go on political exile if his predictions do not come true.

His predictions that at least a dozen ministers in the Pinarayi Vijayan government will taste defeat in the election also proved true.

Satheesan, who has been serving as Leader of Opposition in Assembly since 2021, ensured a joint effort of all coalition partners as 'Team UDF'. He did adequate social engineering to take all sections into confidence.

Born to K Damodara Menon and V Vilasini on May 31, 1964 at Nettoor in Ernakulam (Kochi), Satheesan, who will be turning 62 this month, is a lawyer by profession. Lakshmi Priya is his wife and Kumari Unnimaya daughter.

Satheesan entered politics during his student days. He was union chairman of Mahatma Gandhi university and also served as secretary of National Students' Union of India. He also held various responsibilities in the party and served as Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) vice president and All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary.

His entry into electoral politics was with a defeat. He lost to CPI's P Raju at Paravur in Kochi in the 1996 Assembly polls.

But, a well determined Satheesan won from the communist stronghold in 2001 elections and since then, he has been retaining the seat in all the elections and completed 25 years as Paravur's MLA.

Even as the CPI tried to wrest the seat this time by fielding former MLA E T Taison Master, Satheesan could retain the seat for the sixth time in a row with a margin of 20,600 votes.

With his strong stands on environmental issues, Satheesan had even put the earlier Congress governments in a tight spot on issues like diluting restrictions on ecological sensitive zones.

In the race to the Kerala CM post, his political opponents cite the lack of experience as a minister as a drawback of Satheesan. But his supporters counter that Satheesan could not become a minister as he was never backed by vested interest groups in politics or community leaders.

Satheesan often reiterated that there will not be any compromise with communalism. He was also not in the good books of community leaders as he openly stated that he would not call on community leaders for electoral gains. 

While being elevated as Leader of Opposition in 2021 following UDF's back-to-back defeat in two Assembly polls, his opponents, mostly elders in the party, used to unleash a silent campaign that Satheesan got elevated through social media hype.

But Satheesan proved his skills in the last five years by successfully leading the UDF in the Lok Sabha polls, local body polls, by-polls and finally the Assembly polls.

Satheesan is also being widely credited for his sharp predictions on election outcomes, which he attributes to his grass root level interventions. It could be his skills as a lawyer that helped Satheesan in heated debates with Pinarayi Vijayan in the Assembly.

Satheesan's no-nonsense stand was widely credited as he stood firm on his decision to expel his loyalist Rahul Mamkootathil from the party after sexual allegations came up against him, even as there was resistance towards the move.

As Satheesan is reaffirming his leadership role in the Congress in Kerala, it also marks a generational shift in the grand old party.