- Vincent Kundukulam
These days, the remorse increases in the public against the way the National Indian Congress is handling the appointment of the chief minister in Kerala. The UDF Leadership was confident about forming the government immediately after the announcement of the election results on 9th May 2026. However, as of now when I pen these words, nine days are over. Despite having a massive victory with 102 seats, the UDF has not yet made the claim to form the government. Regarding the delay in appointing the chief minister, the public initially kept silence thinking that the Congress is a democratic party and that it needs time to finish the procedure of consulting the elected MLAS, the coalition parties, the former KPCC presidents, etc. But the fact that the so called ‘Hingh Command’ fails in taking a decision even after the first-round-talks, has given birth to public fury. This lag cannot be justified in terms of the democratic procedure in order.
If in the beginning, the mob came to the streets in order to support the candidateship of V.D. Satheeshan for the chief ministership, presently its agitation has taken a new turn; it has become a revolt against the petit and vested interests of the top Congress leadership in sharing the power. The public has been expressing anger through blog-writings, flux-boards, rallies, comments and trolling videos. Learning that the majority of MLAs support the candidateship of Mr. K.C. Venugopal, (as per the media says, may be a virtual fact) to the post of chief-ministership, the people have turned against those MLAS. If the Congress supporters were much afraid of the BJP-CPIM deal before the election, the public is presently worried of the money-power deal within the Congress Party. The common men feel that the voting-power they exercised against the dictatorial ruling of Mr. Pinaraayi Vijayan is now grabbed by the dictators in the Congress Party.
This post-election campaign naturally steered by the public to elect the Chief-minister merits interpretations from various angles. Do these agitations simply show the love of Keralites for the person of V. D. Satheeshan who performed extraordinarily well as the leader of opposition during the second term of Pinarayi government? Can we simply interpret it as the PRO game played by the fans of Mr. V.D. Satheeshan? Or does it show the anxiety of the people about losing their grip over democracy? I think that it can be all these, but also something more than this.
Keralites have been, since a decade, anxious about the growing communal spirit within the different fractions of the society. Mutual jealousy and fear that has been triggered among the three major religious communities in the state. Kerala, which was once known for the peace-full co-existence of diverse religions, has now turned to be a fertile land for extremist views. The man who generated hope in the minds of people of restoring secular fabric of Kerala is Shri V.D. Satheseshan. People were convinced that he would not compromise with the values cherished by and through the movement of renaissance. His firm stand not to concede to the bargaining of any communal groups attracted the left-oriented and secular-minded people in Kerala.
Another basic reason for the rallying of the public behind Mr. V.D. Satheeshan is the desire of the Malayalees to see realized a new mode of doing politics in the state. Since a few decades, the public life in the state has been yielded to bribery, treachery, economic debt, nepotism, negligence and so on and so forth. Today, people expect from the political leaders the qualities like frankness, bravery, transparency and sincerity in discourses and actions. They seek for a charismatic leader, who has new dreams about Kerala and the strong political will to realize creative projects for employment and development. Shri V.D. Satheeshan has, in and through his speeches and proposals, proved capable of realizing the dreams of the disgusted Malayalees.
Given the nature of this chronicle, we shall conclude by highlighting the message behind the unparallel fight made by the people of Kerala to appoint Shri V.D. Satheeshan as the chief minister. It is nothing but a warning to the politicians of the country: the decisive and final word in politics must be not of the political parties or any High Command but of the people, the people only because, democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people.
