A district conference of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that came to a close at Kottayam on Saturday re- elected A.V. Russel as the party district secretary.The meeting also elected a 38-member district committee including four women and a ten-member district secretariat.The fresh faces in the District Committee also included K.R.Ajay, District president of the DYFI Kottayam district and Vazhoor Area secretary V.G. Lal.Mr. Russel, 60, replaced V.N .Vasavan to become the CPI(M) district secretary in March last year following the latter’s election to the State legislature. He had started his public life as the DYFI Block Secretary and went on to become a Central Committee member of the Youth organisation.Having served as the Changanassery Area secretary of the CPI(M) for 12 years, he has been a member of the [party district committee for 24 years. As many as 189 party delegates including 39 district committee members had attended the district conference.
