Kozhikode: Kerala Students Union state president Aloshious Xavier has warned against attempts to “intimidate and pressure” the party leadership through street-level demonstrations and public campaigns in support of certain leaders amid growing debates within the Congress-led UDF over the chief ministerial face after the Kerala Assembly elections.

In a sharply worded Facebook post, Xavier said the Congress leadership was well aware of the party’s established procedures for selecting a chief minister and cautioned against dragging the party and its leaders into “public trials” through protests, flex boards and rallies. “The party leadership clearly knows the procedures for choosing a chief minister. When the party is moving ahead through proper democratic processes, attempts to create confusion and subject the party and its leaders to public scrutiny cannot be accepted,” he said.

The remarks come in the backdrop of widespread demonstrations by sections of Congress and Muslim League workers across Kerala demanding that V D Satheesan be made Chief Minister. In recent days, flex boards, celebratory rallies and public campaigns supporting Satheesan have appeared in several districts, triggering unease within sections of the Congress leadership.

Without naming anyone directly, the KSU leader criticised what he described as attempts to portray certain leaders as the sole architects of the party’s electoral success. “No armed revolution has happened here. Nobody came wearing battle gear to lead a war. The tree fell because everyone, from grassroots workers onwards, struck together,” he wrote.

Aloshious Xavier also warned against efforts to “frighten and subdue” the party leadership and said discussions on the “merits and demerits” of Congress leaders should not be turned into a “street spectacle.” “Whoever should become chief minister will be decided by the party. If limits are crossed, all limits will be crossed,” he added, in what is being seen as a veiled message to leaders and supporters aggressively pushing the CM campaign narrative.