Kodiyeri Balakrishnan recuse as State secretary citing health issues

Thiruvananthapuram: Weeks after the arrest of his son, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the State secretary of the CPI-M, on Friday recused himself from the post citing health related issues.

In a statement issued here by the CPI-M state secretariat that met here on Friday, it said Balakrishnan had applied for medical leave and the same has been sanctioned.

This was on the cards ever since his son Bineesh Kodiyeri was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on money laundering charges and kept in a jail in Bengaluru.

It is noteworthy that when Balakrishnan went for his medical treatment to the US in the past, he had not applied for any leave.

At the moment the charge of the secretary has been given to LDF convenor A.Vijayaraghavan.

But the grapevine is that Balakrishnan was unhappy that he failed to get the adequate support from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

And what's more worrying for the CPI-M are the local body polls next month and the Assembly polls in May next year.

Troubles for Bineesh are said to increase as his close aide Anoop Mohammed is in the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and there are reports that Bineesh would also be questioned by the NCB.

Even though the national leadership of Balakrishnan's party has stood by him, the situation has changed after the ED officials raided his house here last week.

Both the Congress and the BJP have been demanding that Balakrishnan quit his powerful post.

Putting a brave face, senior CPI-M leader and party secretariat member M.P. Govindan later told the media after the meeting on Friday that Kodiyeri sought leave for his medical needs and has been granted leave.

"One can't say how long the treatment will take. So at the moment we can't say when he is going to return. He said he needs further treatment," said Govindan.

Balakrishnan is a politburo member and according to sources, at its meeting on Friday, he was asked who should be given the charge and he named Vijayaraghavan.

Incidentally Vijayaraghavan is only a central committee member, and he was given the charge ignoring other politburo members. Sources say that Vijayan was keen for Vijayaraghavan.