THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress high command has chosen V D Satheesan as leader of opposition in Kerala. The decision was taken at the last moment despite mounting pressure in the high command leadership. AICC secretary K C Venugopal who had the organisation in charge of Kerala supported Satheesan.

High command representative Mallikarjun Kharge called up senior leaders in the state to inform them Satheesan will be the opposition leader. Muslim League has also supported the decision of the high command. The final decision came after these developments. However, sources say that senior leader A K Antony has advised Sonia and Rahul Gandhi to convince Chennithala and Oommen Chandy about the background and the reason behind taking such a decision.

Senior leaders in the state had earlier intensified the pressure on high command to appoint Chennithala as opposition leader. Oommen Chandy has informed the high command that Ramesh Chennithala should be made the opposition leader and the party machinery will not function with ideology and enthusiasm.

Leaders who support V D Satheesan have conducted talks with Rahul Gandhi on Friday. Sources say they told Rahul that as the LDF government has bought a total overhaul by inducting new faces, Congress cannot go on with old leaders. They also said that if the situation goes like this, then the party may face another humiliating defeat in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Rahul Gandhi has also followed the same stand in the meet to choose the opposition leader.