V.D. Satheesan will be the new Chief Minister of Kerala

Congress announced V.D. Satheesan as the new Chief Minister of Kerala. This announcement was made by Congress leaders Ajay Maken, Mukul Wasnik and Deepa Dasmunshi during a press conference held in New Delhi.

With this announcement, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) will move forward towards forming the government in the state; along with this, the days of speculation in which the party’s top leaders were pulling against each other for the post of Chief Minister also came to an end.

The UDF secured more than a two-thirds majority in the Kerala Assembly elections, but due to lobbying by different factions and protests by grassroots workers, the party could not decide its Chief Ministerial face.

V.D. Satheesan will take oath as the Chief Minister of Kerala on May 18, 2026.

Major Assembly seats of Kerala and their winners

The UDF won a total of 102 seats, in which the Indian National Congress won 63 seats, while the Indian Union Muslim League won 22 seats and Kerala Congress (KEC) won seven seats. The Revolutionary Socialist Party won three seats and Kerala Congress (Jacob) won one seat.

Congress increased its vote share from 25.12% in 2021 to 28.79%, while the vote share of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) declined from 25.38% to 21.77%.

For the first time in the history of Kerala, three MLAs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will now represent the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the Assembly. With the defeat in Kerala, the Left has gone out of power for the first time since 1977.

President’s Rule has been imposed 8 times in the history of the state, most of which happened during the politically unstable period from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Vote percentage in Kerala Assembly Elections 2026

Chief Electoral Officer (Kerala) Ratan U. Kelkar stated that the total voting percentage in the Kerala Assembly elections increased to 79.63% after including postal votes.

According to the Election Commission of India (EC), 80.86% female voters, 75.01% male voters and 57.04% transgender voters cast their votes in Kerala.

Voting was higher than the 2021 Assembly elections and the highest since the 1987 Assembly elections (80.54%), but it did not meet the EC’s expectations, which had set a target of 85%.

Major Chief Ministers of Kerala state and their tenure

E.M.S. Namboodiripad: First Chief Minister (1957–1959, 1967–1969), who led the world’s first democratically elected communist government.

E.K. Nayanar: Longest-serving Chief Minister; held office for nearly 11 years across three terms.

K. Karunakaran: A prominent Congress leader who took oath as Chief Minister four times.

A.K. Antony: Youngest Chief Minister to assume office at the age of 36.

V.S. Achuthanandan: Oldest Chief Minister to take oath at the age of 82.

Pinarayi Vijayan: Serving as Chief Minister since 2016; in 2021 he became the first Chief Minister to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.