CPI elects Kanam as State secretary for third consecutive term

Thiruvananthapuram

The State conference of the Communist Party of India (CPI has elected Kanam Rajendran as the party’s State secretary for the third consecutive term.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Rajendran scotched rumours of factionalism saying the State Council had unanimously elevated.

Mr. Rajendran said the CPI had emerged from the State conference as a cohesive unit, not as a fractured one as predicted by many.

“The party has no groups or factions. Communists stand as one. Comrades have the right to voice their opinion in their respective party forums. It’s not an era of slavery. However, the party’s decision-making is always consensual and concordant in the tradition of democratic centralism.”

In an arguably oblique reference to the State conference eve “mutiny” over the 75 years age limit for State council membership by party veterans C. Divakaran and K. E. Ismail, Mr. Rajendran reiterated the communist principles of organisational cohesion, party discipline and central control.

Some interpreted Mr. Rajendran’s words as a veiled warning of possible disciplinary action against dissidents.

Mr. Divakaran and Mr. Ismail had suggested that the party lacked the unity necessary for a unanimous election to the State secretary’s post and implied that there could be a challenge to Mr. Rajendran’s leadership. CPI leaders remained tightlipped about the media speculation.