Team News Riveting
Kochi, December 3
Senior leader of the CPI(M) Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has returned to the post of state secretary of the party in Kerala.
The state political circle was buzzed with rumours of his return as his youngest son Bineesh Kodiyeri got bail from a Bengaluru court in a narcotics case in October this year. Bineesh had been in jail for a year after being arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for his alleged links in a drug peddling case.
The CPI(M) leader had stepped aside as the party secretary days after the arrest of Bineesh.
One of the senior-most leaders of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, Kodiyeri was Home Minister in the VS Achuthanandan-led Left Democratic Front government from 2006 to 2011. Kodiyeri hails from the party stronghold of Kannur and was first elected as state secretary in February 2015. He was re-elected in 2018 after completing his three-year term.
The party had said that Kodieyri was going on leave for availing medical treatment. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer then.
According to CPI(M) insiders, Kodiyeri stepped down from the post as a section in the party believed that the arrest of Bineesh cast shadow on party’s image. A Vijayaraghavan was then anointed as acting secretary in the absence of Kodiyeri.
Kodiyeri had been active during campaigning in the Assembly elections held in the state in May this year. The LDF came back to power with a resounding majority. His organisational prowess is widely appreciated in the party.
The party state Secretariat convened on Friday decided to bring back the Polit Bureau member to the topmost post of the party state unit. Kodiyeri is considered close to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
