Kerala | Arc of a rainbow ministry

If you feel vadassery damodaramenon satheesan is a mouthful, that’s exactly what four restaurants in Dubai offered to anyone carrying the operative part of that name. Yes, free meals were on offer for any expat Malayali who could prove he was called ‘Satheesan’. The ascension of Kerala’s new chief minister also saw celebrations in more hardscrabble quarters. ASHA volunteers, who had staged an epic 265-day sit-in outside the state secretariat against the Pinarayi Vijayan government in 2025, found their demand for higher wages granted on the first day. So did anganwadi workers. But as the new Congress CM set off the blocks with a welfarist spree, he may soon realise there is no such thing in politics as a free lunch.

The fiscal complexities he has to grapple with are for later. To begin with, he has perceptions to conquer. Satheesan may be one of a vanishingly rare species in contemporary Indian politics: one willing to inhabit an unapologetically secular space, in deed as much as in word. Yet, he finds himself in an embattled zone right at the outset. From the time he bested K.C. Venugopal in a bruising contest, he has been shadowed by talk that it was the outcome of muscle-flexing by one constituent of the United Democratic Front (UDF)—the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

Spawned by the BJP, fanned by national media, opportunistically joined at times by even the embittered Left, the collective word of the Opposition has sought to fix that victory in the public mind as proof that the Congress in Kerala—Satheesan in particular—is captive to a “Muslim party”. In response, he chose not to be cowed down, mask that relationship, or diminish it in stature. Instead, he doubled down on it, describing the League as a sibling within the UDF. Then, he dared to back that with actual collateral.

DELICATE DEMOCRACY

The May 18 oath-taking ceremony, at Thiruvananthapuram’s Central Stadium, was a euphoric moment for the Congress, marked by gestures of civility. Following on from Vijay in Tamil Nadu, Satheesan had extended invitations to Opposition leaders. So Pinarayi was there, as was state BJP chief Rajeev Chandrashekhar. Words affirming democracy were spoken by all.

The 20-member cabinet was a mix of pragmatic choices, meeting the demands of other allies as well as settle Congress factional egos. Ramesh Chennithala, Satheesan’s senior and the only other serious contender for CM, had been persuaded to soften up and sign on.

THE IUML IMPRINT

But civility wasn’t much in evidence on the lips of Satheesan-baiters on something else: on the dais there also appeared five IUML figures who took the oath, led by its national general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty.

That this offered a striking contrast to the national situation could not be overstated: excluding Jammu & Kashmir, the ratios of Muslims holding ministerial berths would plummet to the low single digits. Here, they formed a clear quarter of the present cabinet, a healthier percentage than even the 22 MLAs the IUML contributes to the 102-seat UDF.

Satheesan was indeed backed by the IUML. But he also had the trust of the Congress rank and file as well as other UDF allies. The average voter, too, observers point out, largely swung towards the straight-talking 61-year-old from Paravur as their alternative. But a few sour notes are already appearing. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge was apparently miffed at backward castes and Dalits not getting enough due in the ‘inclusive’ cabinet. So is the Church, but over IUML bagging the education and fisheries portfolios.

For sure, the Muslim association has stood out in an India where that itself often passes for a taint. Especially since the book-loving CM—a photo of his shows him reading Yanis Varoufakis’s Technofeudalism—combines that with a capacity to keep the local feudal lords at an arm’s distance. Here was a Nair who tells the Nair Service Society—and other caste sabhas—that they do not get free tickets on his bus.