Thiruvananthapuram 

V. D. Satheesan will be the next chief minister of Kerala after the Indian National Congress on Thursday named him leader of its legislature party, bringing an end to over a week of intense internal consultations over the top post.

With the decision, the Congress is set to move ahead with government formation in the southern state following the United Democratic Front’s decisive victory in the 2026 Assembly elections, where the alliance secured 102 seats in the 140-member House.

Senior Congress leaders K. C. Venugopal and Ramesh Chennithala were also considered for the chief minister’s post during the deliberations.

Satheesan, who served as Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly since 2021, is expected to lead the Congress delegation to meet Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar later in the day to stake claim to form the government.

A six-time MLA, Satheesan retained the Paravur constituency in the 2026 Assembly polls, securing his sixth consecutive electoral victory. He defeated CPI candidate E. T. Taison Master by over 20,000 votes.

Born in Nettoor near Kochi in 1964, Satheesan is a lawyer by profession. He began his political career through the Kerala Students Union before becoming active in the Youth Congress, and later rose to serve as vice president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee.

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He succeeded Chennithala as Leader of Opposition after the 2021 Kerala Assembly election and emerged as one of the most prominent faces of the UDF’s campaign against the Left government.