New Delhi, May 12:
The suspense and speculation over who would be the next chief minister of Kerala continued on Monday with the delay in the decision by the Congress irking key UDF constituent IUML, which warned that prolonged uncertainty on the matter could have political repercussions.
To break the deadlock, sources said, the top leadership has now decided to hold discussions with former KPCC presidents before finalising the chief ministerial candidate.
Those who have been called by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to Delhi for the discussions, likely on Tuesday, include M M Hassan, V M Sudheeran, Mullapally Ramachandran and K Muraleedharan, besides veteran leader and Kannur Lok Sabha MP K Sudhakaran, sources said.
Discussions would also be held with former defence minister and party veteran A K Antony, who served as the KPCC president between 1996 and 2001.
Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will take the final call on the new Kerala chief minister, which is likely to be finalised in a day or two, the sources said.
This is not the first time the Congress has kept the decision on picking a chief minister hanging.
Intense lobbying was witnessed when the Congress won the Karnataka polls in 2023.Such lobbying and delay were also witnessed in 2018, when the Congress won Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
While Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia were chief minister aspirants in Madhya Pradesh, Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot were the front-runners in Rajasthan.
Eventually, a compromise was reached after days of uncertainty, and while Kamal Nath was chosen in Madhya Pradesh, Gehlot got the top job in Rajasthan with Pilot as his deputy.