Kerala Assembly Elections 2026 | Final decision will be taken in due course: Congress over CM post

New Delhi: Congress on Saturday did not name its choice for the Kerala Chief Minister even after a nearly three-hour meeting top leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi had with the contenders while the party made it clear that a "final decision" will be taken in "due course".

The delay in announcement meant that the contenders -- KC Venugopal, VD Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala -- were unwilling to dilute their claims for the top post in the state, where their supporters had held processions and erected banners, even as the leadership listened to the competing claims.

Congress’ Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunsi said the decision will be announced in “due course…(which) is May 23 (the day Assembly will be dissolved)” after it is finalised by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

The High Command is in a bind as Venugopal has the support of a majority of MLAs while there was an outpouring of support for Satheesan from party workers and the public along with allies like Muslim League. Chennithala is the senior-most and the most experienced among the contenders.

The run up to the meeting saw intense lobbying by all the three leaders. There were reports that the Muslim League conveyed to the Congress leadership that they prefer Satheesan as their preference while the latter had Venugopal's name in mind.

The central leadership, particularly Kharge and Rahul, was upset about the party supporters organising processions and erecting banners in favour of their leaders, which has instructed the leaders to ensure that such processions do not take place any more and that all banners be removed.

After the meeting at Kharge's 10-Rajaji Road residence here, the three leaders along with party in-charge Deepa Dasmunsi and Congress' Kerala chief Sunny Joseph asked their supporters not to indulge in any activities that bring bad name for the party. The three leaders also made individual appeals to their supporters.

Dasmunsi told reporters, “I think in due time we will get the final decision (on Chief Minister) by our high command, and we are waiting for that." To repeated questions on the timeline, she said, "due time means we have time till May 23 (when the Assembly will be dissolved).”

Asked whether a decision has been taken, she said, “a final decision has to be taken by the High Command. That is the resolution that was passed by the legislature party,” she said. To a query on what were the sticking points that are delaying the final decision, she said, “that we can't say.”

Besides holding joint deliberations, Kharge and Rahul also had individual meetings with the three contenders as well as with Dasmunsi, Joseph and observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik. “Individually also we spoke and they have given their guidance,” she said.

“For the last three days, there were some super enthusiastic workers who indulged in some unruly incidents in Kerala. People have given us a landslide majority and those incidents are not part of Congress culture. So, we are requesting all the workers to stop this kind of activity,” she said.