While spearheading the Congress-led UDF’s campaign in the Kerala Assembly elections, then Leader of Opposition (LoP) V D Satheesan, 61, had declared that “If the UDF does not win 100 seats (of the state’s 140), I will quit politics and go into exile.” Several of his Congress colleagues had then scoffed at the statement, but following the poll results Satheesan had the last laugh. The UDF won 102 seats, its best-ever tally, with the Congress winning 63 seats.Satheesan, 61, who also won from his Paravur constituency in Ernakulam district for sixth consecutive term, emerged as a key architect of the UDF’s resounding win. The stage is now set for him to take over as the Chief Minister with the party central leadership on Thursday clearing his name for the top post after days of meetings and consultations.Making of SatheesanIn February this year, Satheesan had organised a statewide tour in a bid to galvanise the Congress’s rank and file for the high-stakes elections, which seems to have yielded electoral dividends for the party.Satheesan was appointed the LoP after the Congress lost the previous elections in 2021, when the incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan had led the CPI(M)-headed LDF to its second successive victory. With 21 MLAs, the Congress’s morale was at the lowest ebb.The Congress high command had then brought Satheesan to the helm of its legislature party as part of a generation shift to infuse confidence in the ranks of the party as well as the UDF. He went on to become the alliance’s undisputed leader.During his five-year stint as the LoP, Satheesan emerged as a formidable political figure by directly taking on CM Vijayan. With Vijayan then emerging as an unchallenged leader within the CPI(M) and among the Left-leaning civil society groups, Satheesan’s confrontational politics against him came into the spotlight. For questioning various development claims of the Vijayan government, Satheesan often faced severe attacks from the Left supporters on social media. Ahead of this election, the CPI(M) had launched a campaign against him called “nusesan (liar) Satheesan”.For Satheesan, the task of reviving the UDF was daunting. His priority was to boost the morale of the workers of the Congress and its allies. He focused on social engineering to make an outreach to several community and social organisations – including those comprising writers, social activists, and experts from various fields – which had earlier distanced from the UDF.Story continues below this adHis first test of leadership was in the by-elections to the Assembly seats, such as Thrikkakara, Puthuppally, Palakkad, and Nilambur, which were held from 2022 to 2024. He also led the UDF to landslide wins in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 2025 local body polls.Satheesan is also said to have played a key role in rejuvenating the Congress at the grassroots level. The party’s booth committees were reactivated before elections and the leaders of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) and District Congress Committees (DCCs) were given charge of booths across the state. He also maintained regular contact with district-level party leaders, gave them directions and monitored progress. During the campaigning, while most of the Congress leaders in the fray were confined to their seats, Satheesan criss-crossed the state across all the constituencies.His strong secular stand drew the ire of prominent community leaders like Vellappally Natesan in the state. While other Congress leaders remained silent, his unflinching position against polarisation in society boosted his appeal cutting across sections and communities. He openly declared, “Keep your vote bank to yourselves,’’ without naming any community.When some community leaders started meddling in the Congress affairs in the state, Satheesan had openly told them, including the Christian clergy, to leave politics to politicians.Story continues below this adAlso Read | V D Satheesan at Idea Exchange: ‘Leaders should discuss the future of the states. Only then will we be able to come back to power in many states’Satheesan’s arcSatheesan, who hails from Nettoor in Ernakulam, joined the Congress through student politics. He had been one of the national secretaries of the party’s student wing NSUI.A law graduate, Satheesan emerged as one of the most vocal Congress legislators during the LDF government’s tenure from 2006 to 2011. His convincing debates in the Assembly, especially on the issue of illegal lottery operations in Kerala, earned him a reputation as an aggressive and articulate legislator – a style that later defined his LoP tenure.When the Congress-led UDF government came to power in 2011, then CM Oommen Chandy was keen to induct Satheesan in his Cabinet. But, this did not fructify. While the Chandy government got embroiled in scams and controversies in subsequent years, Satheesan’s voice became more vocal.He was one of the few leaders who started advocating for green politics calling for sustainable development. He pitched to bring merit as a key criterion for giving tickets to party leaders.Story continues below this adSatheesan is also known as a “bookworm politician”. He had come out with a list of 60 books, both in English and Malayalam, that he read in 2025.