Through the Kerala Meeting elections, he spearheaded the Congress-led UDF and was then Chief of the Opposition (LoP). VD Satheesan, 61, declared: “If the UDF fails to win 100 seats (out of 140 within the state), I’ll stop politics and go into exile.” A number of of his Congress colleagues later laughed at his comment, however after the ballot outcomes, Mr. Satheesan had the final snicker. The UDF received an all-time excessive of 102 seats whereas the Congress received 63 seats.
Mr Satheesan, 61, who received six consecutive phrases from Paravur constituency in Ernakulam district, has emerged because the architect of the UDF’s landslide victory. On Thursday, the celebration’s central management authorized his nomination to the highest publish after a number of days of conferences and consultations, setting the stage for him to take over as prime minister.
Making of Satysan
In February this 12 months, Satheesan organized a state-wide tour to provoke parliamentary exercise within the run-up to the high-stakes elections, which seems to have supplied electoral advantages for the celebration.
Satheesan was appointed to the Lok Sabha after the Congress misplaced the final elections in 2021 when the celebration was headed by incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan. CPI(M)-led LDF to second consecutive victory. With 21 MLAs, the morale of the Congress was at its lowest level.
Subsequently, the Congress excessive command put in Satheesan on the helm of the Legislative Occasion as a part of a generational change to instill confidence within the celebration and UDF cadres. He grew to become the undisputed chief of the Alliance.
Throughout his five-year tenure as LoP, Satheesan emerged as a formidable politician by taking up CM Vijayan instantly. Later, as Vijayan emerged as a steadfast chief inside the CPI(M) and amongst left-wing civil society teams, Satheesan’s confrontational politics in opposition to him got here to the fore. Satheesan typically confronted heavy assaults from leftist supporters on social media as he questioned varied improvement claims of the Vijayan authorities. Forward of this election, the CPI(M) launched a marketing campaign in opposition to him, dubbed “Nusesan” (liar) Saseesan.
For Satheesan, the duty of reviving the UDF was daunting. His precedence was to spice up the morale of the employees in Congress and its allies. He targeted on social engineering and reached out to a number of communities and social organizations that had beforehand distanced themselves from the UDF, together with a corporation made up of writers, social activists, and specialists in varied fields.
The primary check of his management was the by-elections to meeting seats reminiscent of Thrikkakara, Puthupalli, Palakkad and Nilambur, which had been held from 2022 to 2024. It additionally led the UDF to landslide victories within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and the 2025 municipal polls.
Mr Satheesan can be mentioned to have performed a key position in energizing the Congress on the grassroots stage. The celebration’s sales space committee shall be reconvened forward of the elections, with leaders from the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and District Congress Committee (DCC) taking cost of cubicles throughout the state. He additionally maintained common contact with district-level celebration leaders to offer directions and monitor progress. Through the marketing campaign, whereas a lot of the rival Congress leaders had been confined to their seats, Mr. Satheesan criss-crossed each constituency within the state.
His sturdy secular stand angered outstanding regional leaders within the state like Velappally Natesan. Whereas different Congress leaders remained silent, his unflinching stand in opposition to polarization in society strengthened his attraction throughout sections and communities. With out naming any group, he brazenly declared, “Hold your vote financial institution to your self.”
When some group leaders began interfering in parliamentary affairs within the state, Satheesan brazenly instructed them, together with Christian clergy, to go away politics to politicians.
satisan arc
Satheesan, who hails from Nettur in Ernakulam, joined the Congress by way of scholar politics. He was one of many nationwide secretaries of the celebration’s scholar wing NSUI.
Mr Satheesan, a regulation graduate, emerged as one of the crucial vocal parliamentarians throughout the LDF authorities’s tenure from 2006 to 2011. His persuasive arguments in Parliament, significantly on the problem of unlawful lottery operations in Kerala, earned him a popularity as an aggressive and articulate lawmaker, a method that later characterised his tenure within the LoP.
When the Congress-led UDF authorities got here to energy in 2011, the then CM Oommen Chandy was eager to carry Satheesan into the cupboard. Nevertheless, this didn’t occur. Later, whereas the Chandy authorities grew to become embroiled in scams and controversies, Satheesan’s voice grew to become even louder.
He was one of many few leaders who started advocating inexperienced politics for sustainable improvement. He advocated benefit as an necessary criterion for awarding tickets to celebration leaders.
Satheesan is also called the ‘bookworm politician’. He had made an inventory of 60 English and Malayalam books to learn by 2025.
