V D Satheesan’s long political journey reached its biggest milestone on Thursday as the Congress finally announced him as the new Chief Minister of Kerala, ending days of intense speculation over the top post.

The 61-year-old six-time MLA from Paravur is widely credited with steering the United Democratic Front (UDF) to a resounding victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections, despite factional tensions within the Congress party.

A key ally of the UDF, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), had openly supported Satheesan amid reports that he was being sidelined in the chief ministerial race.

Born in 1964 in Nettoor near Kochi, Vadassery Damodaran Satheesan began his political career through the Kerala Students Union (KSU). A trained lawyer and social worker, he was also associated with the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress.

Satheesan made his electoral debut in 1996 from the Paravur Assembly constituency, then considered a Communist stronghold. Though he lost his first election to CPI candidate P Raju, he bounced back to win the seat in 2001 and has remained its representative ever since.

Over the years, Satheesan has held several important positions within the party and the Assembly, including KPCC vice-president, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Whip.

Following the 2021 Kerala Assembly elections, he succeeded senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala as the Leader of the Opposition, further strengthening his position as one of the Congress party’s most prominent faces in Kerala politics.

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