Thiruvananthapuram: Former Defence Minister and veteran Congress leader, AK Antony, said on Thursday that he fully supports the decision of the party high command to name V.D. Satheesan as the 13th Chief Minister of Kerala. Further, he appealed to people to give some time to Satheesan post the formation of the new state government.
Speaking to IANS, he said: “I fully support the decision taken by the Congress high command. Sonia Gandhi, party President Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi have taken this decision.”
About Congress returning to power in the state after a decade, Antony emphasised: “This is the United Democratic Front government led by the Congress.”
Later, speaking to reporters, Antony reiterated that it is a “well thought” decision.
The Congress veteran advised people to have patience and give time to the new government.
He said: “My only appeal is to please give some reasonable time to Satheesan to get out of this mess. Kerala is totally bankrupt, so he needs some time.”
Echoing similar views, Congress MP Hibi Eden expressed his happiness as the “expectations” of the people of Kerala have been accepted by the party’s central leadership.
“We are quite happy that the expectations of the people of Kerala have been accepted by the high command, where LoP Rahul Gandhi, party President Mallikarjun Kharge and the leadership of the Indian National Congress have accepted V.D. Satheesan as the Chief Minister of Kerala.”
Eden said that Satheesan, in his role as the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, has led a “battle” for the past five years.
“His battle brought an end to the disastrous LDF rule. Inside and outside the Assembly, the kind of agitations and issues he had raised gave a huge confidence to the people of Kerala,” he said.
He added: “That is the sole reason that the CM was accepted by Kerala’s people. We truly appreciate and applaud the decision taken by the high command.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister-designate V.D. Satheesan responded to questions about the time taken by the Congress leadership to finalise the decision.
Speaking to IANS, he said the process involved extensive consultations and should not be seen as a delay.
“I cannot say that this was a delay. This is a process. Earlier, there was no such intense media and social media scrutiny. Sometimes, even fake news spreads. The leadership discussed the matter with former PCC presidents, working committee members, MLAs, and MPs before arriving at a decision,” he said.
(IANS)
