Year on, Kodyeri Balakrishnnan returns as Kerala CPM secretary

Emerging from the weekly party state secretariat meeting, senior leader and former minister M M Mani confirmed to the media that Balakrishnan had returned to the post he had vacated in November last year.

Balakrishnan is back as party state secretary a month after his younger son Bineesh was released on bail after being in judicial custody for a year since his arrest in October 2020. Last year, when Balakrishnan had stepped down temporarily, the party had attributed the senior leader’s exit to health reasons.

After Balakrishnan went on leave, party central committee member and LDF convener A Vijayaraghavan was given charge of the state secretary.

The politburo member had been in the thick of a scandal after his son’s arrest, which came at a time when his elder son Binoy was also involved in financial scandals.

Balakrishnan had opted to keep away as party state secretary in November last year, a month ahead of the local body elections in Kerala. The CPI(M) managed to retain power in majority of the local bodies. This year, during the Assembly elections in May, the CPI(M)-led LDF retained power, bucking the trend of an incumbent government being unseated every five years. During the Assembly election campaign, Balakrishnan was not very active in the electioneering, led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Balakrishnan returns as state secretary even as organisational meetings in the party are going on. The meetings will culminate in the party congress, which will be held in Kannur in April next year.