KOCHI: As widely expected, the CPM has reelected senior leader and Politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan as its state secretary. This is for the third time in a row that the party is investing its trust in the veteran leader.
During the last term, Kodiyeri had stepped aside in November 2020 for 'medical treatment' for which he had to travel. There was also speculation that he stepped away as the period coincided with the arrest of his youngest son Bineesh Kodiyeri by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged money laundering case.
The party then appointed a central committee member and LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan as the acting state secretary. However, with Bineesh getting released on bail, Kodiyeri returned to the helm of the party in December 2021.
Now, at the CPM state conference in Kochi, the 68-year-old Kodiyeri has returned for another three-year term as head of the party in Kerala.
Since his return, it was almost confirmed that the senior leader, who is also the trusted lieutenant of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, will become the party secretary for the third time at the Kochi conference.
Entering politics through the SFI in 1970, Kodiyeri became the DYFI Kannur district president in 1980. He was also elected as an MLA from the Thalassery assembly constituency in 1982, 1987, 2001, 2006 and 2011. He also served as the Home Minister in the VS Achuthanandan-led government from 2006-11.
Kodiyeri was elected as the state secretary of the CPM for the first time in 2015. He was reelected for the second term in 2018 during the CPM state conference in Thrissur.