CPI(M) changes Palakkad district leadership after electoral losses

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has removed E.N. Suresh Babu as secretary of its Palakkad district unit and appointed former legislator V. Chenthamarakshan to the post.

The decision was taken at an extended district committee meeting on Sunday as the party reviewed its recent electoral performance. The leadership change during an interim organisational review was described in the supplied report as unusual. The move followed defeats for the Left Democratic Front in the Chittur, Kongad and Thrithala Assembly constituencies in April.

The CPI(M) also recorded a decline in its vote share in several traditional strongholds, with its district vote tally falling by 67,000 compared with the 2021 Assembly election. Party members at the meeting demanded Babu’s removal and criticised what they described as his arrogant and high-handed style of functioning. They also questioned his handling of organisational affairs and alleged that the district leadership had failed to resolve factional and rebel-related disputes.

The Chittur defeat was linked mainly to a rebel issue in Kozhinjampara, while members noted reduced support in Nalleppilly and Peruvemba. Organisational problems were cited in Kongad, where the meeting said the party had enough organisational strength and a substantial vote base to withstand a possible transfer of BJP votes to the Congress. Factionalism was identified as the principal reason for the defeat in Thrithala.

Members questioned what the district leadership had done to address those disputes and accused it of worsening some rebel conflicts rather than resolving them. The meeting also examined group-level differences in area committees. As part of the changes, eight new members joined the district committee, while six area secretaries were made special invitees.