Kochi: The CPM is determined to roll back its age. The 23rd State Conference, in keeping with the party's push to hasten the generational change, has decided to retire 13 leaders above the age of 75 from the state committee and induct several fresh faces. This is in line with the 2021 Cabinet formation of the new Pinarayi Vijayan regime when new and young faces replaced veterans who were in the Council of Ministers in the previous Left Democratic Front government.
The 89-member State Committee includes three ministers from the Pinarayi cabinet -- Saji Cheriyan, Muhammad Riyaz and V N Vasavan -- apart from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan himself who has been exempted from the age limitation.
The new state panel has been approved by the existing State Committee of the party. This panel will now be presented before the delegates.
The 89-member State Committee includes 16 newcomers. These are: AA Rahim (DYFI National President), Chintha Jerome (State Youth Commission Chair), VP Sanu, Panoli Valson, Raju Abraham, K Anil Kumar, P Sasi, KS Saleekha, OR Kelu, V Joy, MM Varghese, AV Russal, EN Sureshbabu, CV Varghese, KK Lathika and K N Ganesh.
Minister R Bindu and John Brittas are special invitees to the State Committee.
Kodiyeri at the helm again
Meanwhile, CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was once again selected to the helm of the party's State Secretariat on Friday.
Kodiyeri is being chosen to the role of CPM State Secretary for the third consecutive time.
State Secretariat
The 17-member State Secretariat includes eight fresh faces and three ministers from the Pinarayi cabinet -- Saji Cherian, Muhammad Riyas and V N Vasavan.
The other new members are P K Biju, M Swaraj, KK Jayachandran, Anavoor Nagappan and Puthalath Dineshan.
Others are former ministers Kadakampally Surendran, A C Moideen, and M Vijayakumar, former Palakkad district committee secretary C K Rajendran, senior leaders P Jayarajan, K P Satheesh Chandran, M V Jayarajan and A Pradeep Kumar.
P K Sreemathy is the lone woman in the outgoing 16-member State Secretariat.
G Sudhakaran among those excluded
Former minister G Sudhakaran has been excluded from State Committee as was expected. Perhaps anticipating his removal, Sudhakaran had earlier written to the party saying that he was willing to step down from the State Committee though he was still not 75.
According to Sudhakaran, the age given in his certificates was false as it was pegged higher for educational convenience.
The leaders excluded are listed below:
Vaikom Viswan (Kottayam)
KP Sahadevan (Kannur)
PP Vasudevan (Malappuram)
R Unnikrishana Pillai (Pathanamthitta)
G Sudhakaran
Koliyakodu Krishnan Nair
CP Narayanan
KV Ramakrishnan (Palakkad)
M Chandran (Palakkad)
Anathalavattam Anandan
MM Mani
KJ Thomas
P Karunakaran
The two Central Committee members - P Karunakaran and Vaikom Vishwan – will also be formally removed from the State Committee though their retirement would be formalised only during the 23rd Party Congress to be held in April this year.
