Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should “remember” the latter’s ‘acrimonious and protracted spat’ with veteran communist leader V.S. Achuthanandan over chief ministership when attempting to discern divisions in the Congress leadership in Kerala.
Mr. Satheesan’s comment at a press conference on Thursday (February 6, 2025) was a political riposte to Mr. Vijayan’s attempt at witticism about an alleged power struggle within the Congress over the prospective position of Chief Minister after the 2026 Assembly polls.
The political theatre that went viral on social and conventional media played out at a star-studded function on Wednesday in Thiruvananthapuram to honour industrialist Ravi Pillai.
The welcoming speaker ignited an unscripted chain of events by stating, apparently off the cuff, that Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala, who was on the dais, would hopefully become Kerala’s next Chief Minister.
The speaker also inquired twice whether Mr. Satheesan, who briefly appeared at the function, had departed the venue, sensationally flipping the script on the carefully choreographed function.
The welcome speech intrigued Mr. Vijayan, who was seated near Mr. Chennithala. When his turn came to speak, Mr. Vijayan quipped that the “welcoming speaker” had dropped a bomb on the Congress. “He could not do a greater disservice to Mr. Chennithala. The welcoming speaker had promised not to dwell on politics. I counsel him he should have adhered to the assurance,” Mr. Vijayan said.
The Chief Minister’s statement elicited laughter from the audience and chuckles from the dignitaries on the stage.
The dramatics also provided sensational grist for social media trolls and the mainstream television commentariat.
Mr. Satheesan countered that Mr. Vijayan’s “attempt to drive a wedge” within the Congress would fail. “The Congress is a national party. It faces elections based on the United Democratic Front’s (UDF) manifesto. The Congress’ politics in Kerala did not revolve around any individual leader. The High Command is the party’s final authority”, he said.
Mr. Satheesan stated that Mr. Vijayan was “fixated on fictitious power struggles” within the Congress to distract from the government’s shortcomings in addressing human-wildlife conflicts and safeguarding the interests of settler-farmers and fishermen.
He accused Mr. Vijayan of browbeating delegates at party conferences to pre-empt any criticism of the government, mainly the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
