With the Congress-led UDF all set to return to power in Kerala after a decade, the focus shifts to who will be the next chief minister of the state.
The Congress did not declare a CM candidate before the elections, instead opting to project a collective leadership against incumbent CM Pinarayi Vijayan of the LDF. This also became a necessity because of the demise of former CM Oommen Chandy in 2023. He was the tallest and most popular leader of the Congress in the state till then.
Significantly, in the 2026 Assembly election, the Congress managed to control the factional rivalries that afflicted the party in the state. However, the need to balance different groups and interests may play a role as the party gets ready to choose the next CM.
In line with Congress tradition, the MLAs are likely to pass a resolution empowering the party high command to choose the next CM.
Party veteran and former Kerala CM AK Antony is likely to play a key role in balancing different groups within the party.
The choice is likely to usher in a generational shift in state politics. For the first time, Kerala may see a CM born in the 1950s or 1960s.
Interestingly, all the major names doing the rounds belong to the Nair community that had been shifting to the BJP especially at the Lok Sabha level. If one of them does become CM, Kerala would have the first Nair CM since K Karunakaran in the early 1990s.