A V Russel, the incumbent secretary of the CPM Kottayam district committee, will continue in the post. He was re-elected as the district secretary at the district meeting here at Pampady on Sunday. The district meeting also elected a 38-member district committee.

However, the district meet has excluded the incumbent district committee members including K Suresh Kurup, CJ Joseph, K Anil Kumar, MP Jayaprakash, K Arunan and B Anandakuttan. The newly elected district committee members are B Sasikumar, Suresh Kumar, Sheeja Anil, KK Renjith, Subhash T Varghese and K Jayakrishnan.

Russel took charge as the district secretary in March 2024 after the then-district secretary, VN Vasavan, got elected to the state legislative assembly from Ettumanoor. Earlier when Vasavan had contested in the Kottayam Lok Sabha seat, Russel had taken charge as the district secretary.

Russel, who became a CPM member in 1981, was the area secretary in charge of Changanacherry for 12 years. He has been in the district secretariat of the CPM for twelve years and the district committee for twenty-four years. Russel was the state vice president of the DYFI and had served as its central committee member.