#Venugopal

From tacitly allowing K C Venugopal to enter the CM race to picking Satheesan, the Congress high command’s 360-degree turn is unprecedented in its recent political history.

Of the two who emerged as the main rivals to Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala at least had a solid claim. It is doubtful whether either Satheesan or Chennithala would have countenanced K C Venugopal pipping them to the post

From Indianexpress RSS Feed: How KC Venugopal reacted to Congress choosing VD Satheesan Kerala Chief Minister

While Venugopal had the support of a majority of the party’s 63 MLAs, his one-time political mentor Chennithala’s case rested on his seniority and long-standing ties with the Gandhi family. Both were overlooked.

The high command’s decision reflects ally arithmetic and grassroots pressure outweighed K C Venugopal’s clout among elected MLAs.

Decision comes after Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi met with K C Venugopal on Thursday morning to convince him to back down.

After nine days, Congress says deliberations have concluded, even though its bid to work out a compromise formula between the three contenders — K C Venugopal, V D Satheesan and Ramesh Chennithala — goes down to the wire

Party high command held meeting with four former state unit chiefs and three vice-presidents over the issue

Venugopal, who is currently general secretary (organisation), is the closest leader to Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and the Congress will have a tough time replacing him.

From Indianexpress RSS Feed: Kerala CM suspense drags on: Unable to break deadlock, Congress to meet again tomorrow

Satheesan is banking on his performance as Leader of Opposition, but Chennithala is staking his claim based on seniority, while Venugopal is relying on his strong connection with the high command

Senior party leaders like V D Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala and K C Venugopal are said to be in the running for the top post

With counting day nearing, race between three of the state’s most prominent Congress leaders for the chief minister’s post is in its last lap.