Thiruvananthapuram, Almost a year after he was given an honourable exit as CPI-M's Kerala state Secretary on medical grounds though the real reason was felt to be the arrest of his younger son, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan is set to return to the post.

 

The development comes as Balakrishnan's younger son Bineesh Kodiyeri was released from jail in Bengaluru last week.

According to sources in the know of things, the state Secretariat meeting of the party which is going to be held here on Thursday will issue the formal signal of Balakrishnan's return.

"Tomorrow's meeting and the following state Committee meeting will for sure give the signal for his return, as the top leadership, especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who by now has become the final word in the party also, is Balakrishnan's biggest supporter and hence there will be no whimper of protest for his return, even as his son is only out on bail. None will dare to say a word against Vijayan's wishes," said a party source who did not wished to be identified.

Moreover, the CPI-M's organisational meetings have all begun and will culminate in the state party conference to be held at Kochi early next year.

According to the rules of the party, Balakrishnan who has completed two terms, can get a maximum of one more term of three years and hence, Vijayan is particular that Balakrishnan is put back in his original post.

Bineesh was arrested by the Bengaluru division of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), on October 29 last year.

With the local body election then, the April assembly election round the corner and the Congress and BJP going hammer and tongs against the CPI-M over the arrest of Bineesh, Balakrishnan who is a cancer patient, was given an honourable exit by the party and said he has been given leave for his treatment.

Even though the opposition tried their best to rake up this issue in the two elections, with the Covid pandemic in full cry then and Vijayan getting a lot of applause, the CPI-M managed to come at the top in both the polls and now with no polls in sight for at least three more years, the party felt that there is no harm in bringing back Balakrishnan.