Kanam Rajendran elected as CPI state secretary

Kottayam: All India Trade Union Council (AITUC) leader Kanam Rajendran has been elected as the new state secretary of the Kerala unit of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

Kanam was chosen for the post after the intervention of the CPI central leadership to bring a consensus in the state council.

Senior leader K.E Ismail had staked claim for the post this time. It was following the intervention of the central leadership Ismail withdrew from the race at the last minute and avoided an imminent election in the party Kerala unit.

He succeeds veteran Pannyan Raveendran, who was elected as the state secretary in 2012.

Though the names of C. Divakaran and Kanam Rajendran were mooted for the post of the state secretary after the death of C.K. Chandrappan, Panniyan Raveendran was chosen as a 'compromise' candidate at that time.