Kodiyeri Balakrishnan returns as CPM Kerala secretary

CPM politburo member Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has returned to the party as its Kerala state secretary.

Kodiyeri had stepped down from the state secretary post last November after his younger son Bineesh Kodiyeri was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to a Bengaluru-based drug trafficking racket.

Even as the party's official statement said that Balakrishnan was keeping off as he was suffering from cancer, he had later told television channels that it was not appropriate for him to continue in the state secretary post.

Ever since his son was granted bail in the drug-trafficking case last month, there were speculations that Balakrishnan would soon return to the state secretary post. The party state secretariat meeting on Friday took the decision in this regard. In his absence, the post was held by Left Democratic Front convenor and former MP A Vijayaraghavan.

A former home minister and a native of CPM's stronghold Kannur district, Balakrishnan is a close confidante of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Balakrishnan's return to the CPM state secretary post comes at a time when the party state conference and party congress are in the offing. Kerala is the only state where the CPM is now in power and the party congress is also scheduled to be held here.

Over the years Kodiyeri faced many embarrassments due to allegations against his two sons. His elder son Binoy is alleged of sexually abusing and having impregnated a woman who was a former bar dancer in UAE – now settled in Mumbai – by promising to marry her. A Mumbai court had ordered a DNA test to prove the paternity of the complainant's child and the matter is still pending.

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