The Congress high command on Thursday chose V D Satheesan as the next Chief Minister of Kerala , overlooking Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and former state Leader of Opposition and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. While Venugopal had the support of a majority of the party’s 63 MLAs, his political mentor Chennithala’s case was built on his seniority and long-standing ties with the Gandhi family.

Kozhummal Chattadi Venugopal, regarded as the Congress’s key backroom strategist in Delhi , failed to make the transition from a behind-the-scenes leader to the face of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in the state despite enjoying the support of a majority of the MLAs.…