CPI(M) district meet concludes

42-member district committee has four new faces

Chalakudy MP and actor Innocent shares a lighter moment with Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan during the CPI(M) district conference at Irinjalakuda on Saturday.– Photo: K.K. Najeeb

The district conference of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) concluded at Irinjalakuda on Saturday. A rally was taken out in the evening from Kuttankulam, Puthankulam and Chanthakunnu to the Ayyankavu Maidan. A.C. Moideen, who was re-elected district secretary, said the party should gear up to tackle new challenges in society.   

 The new district committee has four new members. They are P.K. Sivaraman, N. Rajesh, M. Krishnadas and M.M. Avarachan. T. Sasidharan, former DYFI State secretary, vice-chairman of the Kerala State Youth Welfare Board and a loyalist of Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan, has not been included in the district committee. A few years ago, he was downgraded from State committee member to branch committee member.

Mr. Moideen told reporters that Mr. Sasidharan, however, continued to be in the mainstream.

Social media carried posts that protested against not including Mr. Sasidharan in the district committee. “Why has he been sidelined? As a disciplined party worker, he has continued in the branch committee for eight years. What is the mistake he committed? Is it the fact that he did not defect to other political parties? Or the fact that he continued to be loyal to the CPI(M)?” asked a post.

CPI(M) State secretariat member Baby John, former district secretary K.K. Mamakutty, former secretary of the party area committee of Kodungallur P. Ahmed and former secretary of the party area committee of Chavakkad K. Mani will not continue in the district committee.

The committee includes K. Radhakrishnan, Babu M. Palissery, K.V. Abdul Khader, B.D. Devassy, MLAs, N.R. Balan, M.M. Varghese, Ambady Venu, U.P. Joseph, C.K. Chandran, Murali Perunelly, K.K. Ramachandran, K.F. Davis, M. Balaji and T.K. Vasu.

The 42-member committee has three women members. They are R. Bindu, A.V. Nafeesa and Mary Thomas. A surprise omission is K.R. Vijaya, Janadipathya Mahila Association leader, who took on Thomas Unniyadan of the Kerala Congress (M) in the 2011 Assembly election in the Irinjalakuda constituency.

Addressing the valedictory function, Leader of Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan said Chief Minister Oommen Chandy had become a liability for the people of the State.