Thiruvananthapuram: Former chief minister and CPM Politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan will lead the team of the CPM at the extended district committee meetings in districts where rebel moves during the Assembly elections posed a challenge to the party.

A state secretariat meeting attended by CPM state secretary M V Govindan decided that Vijayan should participate in the meetings in Alappuzha and Kannur. The extended district committee meetings are slated to begin in Alappuzha on September 26 and conclude in Kannur on October 19.

The party will send teams led by one of its Politburo members, Vijayan, Govindan or A Vijayaraghavan, to the respective districts.

Kannur will be an exception, with all key leaders, including Pinarayi Vijayan and Govindan, attending the meeting in view of the special circumstances there. It will also be the first time Govindan attends a party forum in Kannur where the defeat of his wife, P K Shyamala, in Taliparamba is being discussed. He had not attended any of the earlier meetings convened in the district to discuss the issue.

The party’s zonal-level reporting will begin by the end of next month. Larger districts will have three zonal meetings, while other districts will have two. State secretariat members will attend these meetings to present the reports.

At the state secretariat meeting, the party secretary also directed that district secretariats and committees be restructured based on the discussions at the extended district committee meetings.

When the issue of V Joy continuing as Thiruvananthapuram district secretary despite being an MLA came up for discussion, a strong case was made under Vijayan’s leadership for retaining him. The argument was that the district committee had met after the elections and reinstated Joy as secretary, so there was no need for another change. The issue, however, has not been settled, and the general view was that it may have to be reconsidered if it comes up for discussion at the extended district committee meeting.

Meanwhile, the leadership expects sharp criticism in Kannur and believes disciplinary action may be necessary.

It was also agreed that a decision on whether to change the LDF convenor would be taken after the CITU state conference. The fact that T P Ramakrishnan also serves as the CITU state president was not taken into consideration.