Inside Satheesan’s Kerala government, latest appointments reveal growing discontent

Sources close to Satheesan said the issue of the two posts had been “discussed in the past and had been settled”.

4 min readThiruvananthapuramOct 2, 2026 07:06 AM IST First published on: Oct 2, 2026 at 07:06 AM IST

Barely four months into office, fractures within Keralam’s V D Satheesan government appear to be deepening — this time over a series of high-ranking government appointments. At a press conference he held on Thursday, senior Congress MP and United Democratic Front (UDF) convenor Adoor Prakash said crucial decisions were being taken “without keeping me in the loop”.

“I’m forced to give answers to the party workers from across Keralam. The AICC appointed me. There is no point in hiding (the resentment). Let people know everything. I’m speaking based on my experience,” he said, adding that he would take up his discontent with the AICC leadership.

What appears to have provoked Prakash is the Cabinet’s decision to appoint K M Muneer, a senior leader of ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), as the chairperson of the administrative reforms commission and Forward Bloc national general secretary G Devarajan as the special representative of the Keralam government in Delhi. Both are equivalent to Cabinet-rank positions, with all accompanying trimmings.

The posts, created by the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government to rehabilitate senior leaders of the ruling front, had several contenders from the Congress. The latest appointments have caused particular rancour as they bring the IUML’s Cabinet-rank positions under this government to six.

The IUML had backed Satheesan in the heated contest for the chief minister’s position. The UDF, Prakash said, was never consulted on the two appointments.

“The chief minister, being the chairperson of the UDF, needs to call a meeting,” Prakash, who was keen to contest the Assembly elections but did not, said. “Despite being the convener of the UDF, I have been kept in the dark on several issues and decisions. There are many issues that deserve debate. He (Satheesan) had not communicated anything to me.”

Sources close to Satheesan said the issue of the two posts had been “discussed in the past and had been settled”.

Not the first signs of a crack

This isn’t the first time cracks within the government have appeared to be showing. Ever since his appointment to the position in May, several senior leaders have targeted Satheesan for “overlooking the organisation while taking key decisions and making political appointments”.

That the state Congress does not have a full-time state president has also contributed to the criticism that decisions are being taken without consulting the party leadership. Incumbent state Congress president Sunny Joseph is a minister, and while he had expressed his intention to step down from the organisational role, the Congress national leadership has been delaying the decision since the post has several contenders.

For Satheesan, this is yet another row in what appears to be a turbulent phase, with decisions such as taking private chopper rides and “policy U-turns” on PM Shri and the multi-billion-dollar Vizhinjam International Seaport bringing him under Opposition fire.

What appears to compound Satheesan’s latest troubles is that most of the Congress ministers in the Cabinet are nominees of AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, who had lost in the race to the chief minister.

Giving the chairperson of the administrative reforms commission to IUML leaves Satheesan facing another allegation — that he has given in to the junior ally. With IUML getting a significant role in the government, the Opposition BJP has already seized on the issue, alleging that the UDF dispensation is led by the Muslim League and the Jamaat-e-Islami.

The IUML enjoying a bigger space in governance has always been a point of debate whenever the UDF came to power in Keralam.