UDF won elections a week ago, but Kerala CM name is still not out. Why Congress is yet to decide

It's been a week since the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won the Kerala assembly elections. Still, suspense continues over Congress's chief ministerial nominee for the state.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at the party's "alleged indecision" in naming a new chief minister for Kerala, accusing the Congress leadership of allegedly stabbing its own leaders in the back.

Modi alleged that Congress-led governments are consumed by "internal disputes" rather than public service and pointed out that, despite securing a mandate in Kerala, the party has remained unable to choose its chief minister, leaving the state's administration in a state of paralysis.

"Instead of solving the problems of the people, the government here is spending most of its time resolving internal disputes. It has still not been decided how long the Chief Minister will remain in office. Even in Kerelam now, they are unable to reach a conclusion. They make promises to their own party leaders and then stab them in the back. The same happened in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. The same game is still going on in Karnataka. Now it is Kerala's turn," Modi said, speaking at an event in Karnataka.

Modi's remarks came after the Congress-led UDF won 102 of the state's 140 seats.

Assembly elections were held in Kerala along with West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. West Bengal, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu have their chief ministers. Himanta Biswa Sarma is all set to be the chief minister of Assam. However, the Congress party hasn't finalised its chief ministerial choice in Kerala yet.

Ball in high command's court

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi have reportedly seized of the matter, and the name is likely to be announced soon.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala launched a sharp attack on PM Modi, remarking that he appears to have "memory loss" regarding his own party's history of leadership delays in Delhi.

Responding to the prime minister's jibes over the ongoing suspense over the selection of the Chief Minister of Kerala, Chennithala reminded him that the BJP itself had allegedly delayed its chief ministerial pick in Delhi for 50 days.

Congress leader K Muraleedharan said on Sunday that the party workers are bound to accept the high command's decision regarding the selection of the next CM of Kerala. Responding to reporters' questions in Thiruvananthapuram, Muraleedharan said the current debate over the chief minister's post has not overshadowed the UDF's electoral victory in the southern state.

The top brass of the Congress held a meeting in Delhi for more than three hours on Saturday to discuss government formation in Kerala. Gandhi attended the meeting convened by Kharge at his residence. All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in charge of Kerala Deepa Dasmunshi, General Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and senior leaders from the state, Ramesh Chennithala and V D Satheesan, attended the meeting.

Venugopal, Satheesan and Chennithala are considered frontrunners for the chief minister's post.

"Everyone expressed their views, and Rahulji heard them patiently. The final decision on the chief minister will be taken by the Congress high command, and whatever decision is made will be accepted by all," Chennithala had said after the meeting.

Kerala Congress Chief Sunny Joseph and senior observers Ajay Maken and Mukul Wasnik were also present at the meeting.

The tenure of the Kerala Legislative Assembly is scheduled to end on 23 May.

Satheesan said the Congress has scored a historic win in the Kerala Assembly polls due to the hard work of all workers. However, subsequently, there have been demonstrations, social media campaigns and even flexboards have come up regarding the selection of the chief minister, creating an image of division within the party.

"All of us are requesting together that please do not carry out such demonstrations and campaigns for anyone of us. It will hurt the Congress workers, the UDF activists and the large number of people who have voted for us," Joseph said.

Endorsing his views, Venugopal said people had given the party a huge victory, and wanted a UDF government that would work for them. "There have been some unfortunate incidents. These should be ended," he had said.

The majority of the party MLAs are said to be in favour of Venugopal occupying the top post, while the public's choice is Satheesan.

Supporters of both Venugopal and Satheesan have put up posters and banners of their leaders in Delhi and in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. Some university students in Delhi have also shown strong support for Satheesan, welcoming him upon his late-night arrival in the national capital. Posters of Venugopal as the next chief minister have also come up outside Kharge's residence.

The Congress has 63 MLAs in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has 22 legislators, and the alliance partner's opinion will matter. The Kerala Congress (KEC) has won eight seats, and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) has won three in the just-concluded polls. The UDF has won 102 seats, which is more than a two-thirds majority.

(With agency inputs)