BJP wades into power struggle in Congress for Kerala’s Chief Minister post

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday (May 11, 2026) sought to further muddy the alleged “cloak-and-dagger power struggle” in the Congress for the post of Kerala Chief Minister.

BJP State president, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, designated MLA, seemed to make a tongue-in-cheek attempt to exacerbate the “factional fighting “ by stating on X that he would “neither confirm nor deny” that his party’s State unit preferred All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, K.C. Venugopal, MP, to the top post.

Mr. Chandrasekhar was responding to a rib-tickling social media gossip that the BJP’s Kerala unit was locked in a dispute with the national leadership, which would sooner have V.D. Satheesan or Ramesh Chennithala as Chief Minister than Mr. Venugopal.

Mr. Chandrasekhar’s jibe at the Congress, and by extension Mr. Venugopal, came close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that “uncertainty” and the fear of factional feuding “hampered” the Congress national leadership from naming the party’s Chief Minister in Kerala with certainty, despite a historic win. In the same breath, Mr Modi had alleged that factional fighting in the Congress government in Karnataka had arrested the State’s development.

Mr. Chandrasekhar’s taunt also seemed to come as a political tit-for-tat for Mr. Venugopal, accusing the BJP leader of violating election rules by concealing assets in the affidavit he filed along with his nomination as a candidate in the Assembly elections.

Mr. Chandrasekhar’s seemingly snide remark provoked social media trolls, spotlighting the “shifty loyalties” of Congress leaders in Kerala, especially those who defected to the BJP ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and in the run-up to the Assembly polls, and suggesting that more “big names” would follow.

In a seeming reply to the social media taunts, Congress leader M. Liju told reporters that Congress remained strong despite “many leaders, including Jyothi Raj Scindia and Gulam Nabi Azad, leaving the party. “AICC’s decision on Kerala Chief Minister will be final for party workers. Party’s faith in Rahul Gandhi and Mallika Arjun Kharge remains unshaken”, he added. Mr. Chennithala pointed out that it had taken the BJP 50 days to name its Chief Minister in Haryana.