Sachin Pilot calls Kerala win ‘historic’, CM decision to be centralised

Sachin Pilot of the Indian National Congress hailed the UDF’s Kerala victory as “historic,” saying the chief ministerial decision will be taken by central leadership after consultations, as the alliance prepares to form government after a decade

New Delhi: Hailing the Congress-led UDF’s victory in Kerala as “historic”, senior leader Sachin Pilot on Monday asserted that there would be no issues in deciding the chief ministerial nominee as the party leadership would take the final call after consulting all stakeholders, and that would be acceptable to all.

Pilot, who was the Congress’s senior observer for the Kerala Assembly polls, said the “emphatic victory” in the elections will give a new direction to the political landscape.

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Asked who would be the chief ministerial nominee, Pilot told PTI, “We had committed the polls that once we secure the mandate, then all the elected legislators will sit with the leadership, all the stakeholders, senior leaders and also our allies…we will take all into confidence.

After having consultations and feedback, the leadership in Delhi — Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge ji, Rahul (Gandhi) ji and the senior leadership will decide who will get what responsibility.” That has been the set procedure in the party in all states and will be followed in Kerala as well, he asserted.

“Whatever the leadership of the party decides is acceptable to every single Congress worker in Kerala. We had said this before the polls, during the campaign and even now. Once the final results come, the MLAs will be called for their feedback,” the Congress general secretary said. He hailed the triumph as “historic” and said that the people of Kerala deserve to be congratulated.

“All the efforts of the workers and leaders, Kharge ji, Rahul ji and Priyanka ji, have paid off,” he said.
“Our guarantees and narrative have been accepted by the people. This will bring about a change for the people of Keralam,” Pilot said.

The Congress is headed towards a “historic” victory which will give a new direction to the political landscape, he said. “Kerala is one shining example how resilience and party working unitedly has paid off and now we expect to live up to the expectations of the people of Kerala,” Pilot said.

According to the Election Commission website, the UDF was leading or had won over 95 seats and poised to win a comfortable majority in the 140-member House. The UDF is set to form government after 10 years of LDF rule in the state.