Thiruvananthapuram: After an uncertainty that lingered for days regarding its next state chief, the state unit of the Communist Party of India on Monday chose a new state secretary, veteran leader Kanam Rajendran.
The elevation of the 64-year-old Rajendran to the top post of the party in the state came after another contestant in the fray, K.E. Esmail, withdrew. Esmail’s decision to avoid a contest came at the eleventh hour after every indication that, for the first time in the party’s history, there would be a contest to choose the secretary.
The consensus was also due to the intervention by CPI’s national leadership. Incumbent state secretary, Panniyan Ravindran, had also backed Rajendran as the next secretary. Accordingly, the 89-member state council of the party opted for Rajendran.
On a previous occasion, three years ago, when the state secretary post fell vacant following the demise of C.K. Chandrappan, Panniyan Ravindran and C. Divakaran had vied for the post, and Ravindran was chosen as the consensus candidate.
Rajendran is presently the state president of the All India Trade Union Congress, the labour union of the CPI, and also a member of the party’s national executive. In 1982 and 1987 Rajendran had represented the Vazhoor assembly constituency as an MLA. He was also the youngest state secretary of the party’s youth wing, the All India Youth Federation, at the age of 20.
Rajendran hails from Kanam in Kottayam district, and is taking over the reins of the CPI in the state at a time when it is having serious differences on multiple issues with the Communist Party of India Marxist.
