M B Rajesh, 50, contested to the State Assembly for the first time, and defeated V T Balram of the Congress by 3.016 votes in Thrithala, Palakkad district.

A member of CPM state committee, Rajesh had represented Palakkad twice in the Lok Sabha.

A resident of Shoranur, Rajesh was born at Jalandhar, Punjab, on March 12, 1971.

He had his education from Higher Secondary School, Chalavara, NSS College, Ottappalam, and Law Academy Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. He holds a Masters’ degree in Economics.

Rajesh had been SFI’s Palakkad district committee secretary, state secretary and national joint secretary; and DYFI’s state president and national president. He was also the Chief Editor of Yuvadhara, the organ of DYFI.

He successfully contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 and 2014.

Ninitha Kanicherry (Teacher, Kalady Sanskrit University) is his wife. They have two children, Niranjana and Priyadatta.