The new CM of Keralam will have to perform more miracles to survive the economically and politically tough years ahead
(Shankar Raj)
All through the fiery campaign for the 2026 Assembly elections in Keralam, one word that stood out was ‘Vismayam’ or miracle. And this was the catchword of VD Satheesan who led the Congress to a stunning dream victory, trouncing the Left Front and its iconic figures.
Vismayam perhaps best defined VDS through the 2026 poll campaign. It was a word he deployed repeatedly while attacking the ruling CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF), springing surprise after surprise in a campaign that steadily altered the political equilibrium in the State.
His miracles came one after another. Even his ardent supporters, senior party leaders and alliance partners scoffed at his ideas; the LDF called VDS a man living in a fool’s paradise; community leaders like Vellapally Natesan called him a buffoon and a joker in a circus; the Nair community leader pinned him down with nasty comments saying that he was inefficient and useless.
But VDS remained unfazed. Borrowing words from the cricketing world, his first miracle came when he formed ‘Team UDF’ – a strong collective of alliance partners. Senior party leaders dismissed it with disdain. But Team UDF swept the elections.
Political wilderness
The second miracle came when he promised to bag over 100 seats for Team UDF, failing which he would take to ‘vanavas’ (political wilderness). Senior party leaders guffawed at his promise and said he could as well pack for his ‘vanavas’; pollsters, exit polls, experts, commentators and the Opposition gave VDS a maximum of 70 seats; his party leaders said if he was extremely lucky, he would get 75 seats in the 140-member assembly.
But VDS kept his promise and led from the front to give Team UDF 102 seats. His partymen, opposition, experts and others watched with dropped jaws.
Then there were political shocks: leaders and fellow travellers from the Left drifted towards the Congress-led UDF; disgruntled voices within the LDF found in Satheesan’s expanding opposition platform, and social groups once alienated from the Congress returned to the fold. He triggered a huge political churn.
Five years ago, few would have predicted that the Congress, reduced to just 21 seats in the Assembly in 2021, would storm back to power with a commanding 102-seat mandate. And yet another vismayam was that the man leading that resurgence was someone who had never held ministerial office even once.
With all these achievements, VDS should have been the natural choice as the CM candidate of the Congress. Moreover, he was the Opposition leader in the outgoing assembly and faced the onslaught from the LDF with courage. He made former CM and CPM leader Pinnarayi Vijayan and his partymen squirm when he took them on on the floor of the Assembly.
Huge Shock
But vimayam turned into a shock when the time came for selecting the CLP leader. VDS was elbowed out of the list. Winning the favours of Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal emerged as the leader of the Delhi lobby. Before the elections, KC had given party tickets to his loyalists and financially supported them. Hence, when it came to the CLP’s choice, a majority of the newly elected legislators backed KC.
The final miracle came after ten days of intense lobbying, factional manoeuvring and suspense in New Delhi. The Congress high command had to bow its head to public pressure, brush aside inner party pressure and lobbying and name V D Satheesan as Kerala’s 14th Chief Minister.
In his very first press conference after being elected leader of the CLP, VDS called his elevation “Daivaniyogam”—God’s plan. The phrase was strikingly personal. It also captured the improbable nature of his rise.
He performed other miracles too. In his build-up to victory, he relentlessly attacked the LDF and earned a niche in the media. His attacks were calibrated for the social media age. He sensed early that beneath the LDF’s aura of dominance, public fatigue was slowly building. He sharpened the Congress narrative around corruption, governance failures, welfare delivery gaps, and minority anxieties.
But perhaps his most consequential intervention was ideological repositioning.
VDS aggressively projected the Congress as the “real Left”, accusing the CPM of drifting towards authoritarian and right-leaning governance. He reached out not only to traditional UDF voters but also to sections of left sympathisers, intellectuals, and social influencers disillusioned with the ruling front.
Months before the election, he reportedly instructed Congress workers to soften hostility towards ordinary CPM cadre—smile at them, engage them, open political conversations. It sounded unusual in Kerala’s combative political climate, but it reflected his understanding that political shifts often begin emotionally before they become electoral.
Political strategist Dominic Savio was quoted in the media as saying: “He (VDS) understands television. He understands the public mood. He has instinctive political reflexes. And unlike many Congress leaders, he can communicate sharply and quickly.”
Those qualities became central to the Congress revival. Satheesan was no longer merely reacting to the government. He was setting the political agenda.
Weaknesses, tough challenges
But VDS is not all-hero stuff. Ironically, his strengths can also be his weaknesses. His biggest weakness is an excessive focus on personal image. Though he leads an excited new pack, VD can occasionally be a lone wolf projecting himself as an angel figure. This can go well with the public, not the party. A leader who hopes to head a coalition cannot always behave like a solo public brand.
According to the media, he is simultaneously a mass politician and an image-conscious modern communicator. A street fighter who also instinctively grasps opportunities for optics. A Congress traditionalist who functions like a politician shaped by the television and digital era.
VDS faces other miracles – tough ones. He has inherited a bone-dry treasury, huge back-breaking debts and he has party promises – like free bus rides for women, enhanced pension, dole for the unemployed – to fulfil. And he has no money.
And then he must face his rivals in the party. His arch rival KC Venugopal holds the reins in Delhi; Ramesh Chennithala, the seniormost leader who lost the race to the CM chair can create problems. Community leaders of the Christians, Nairs and the Ezhavas do not view VD favourably. And there is the ambitious BJP waiting in the wings to snatch its piece of political cake, having won 3 seats in the Assembly for the first time.
Will VDS perform other miracles? A community leader described VDS as a joker in a political circus. More apt would be to describe him as a trapeze artiste who cannot afford to faulter even by an inch. After the ga-ga days are over, VDS will have to hit the political turf running. Will he win the long-haul race? He may need more than just vismayam to do that.
(Author is a senior Editor based in Bengaluru)