CPI(M) dumps Palakkad district secretary after election setback

Former MLA V. Chenthamarakshan is appointed the party’s Palakkad district secretary. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement

The CPI(M) on Sunday (October 4, 2026) removed E.N. Suresh Babu as the party’s Palakkad district secretary and appointed former MLA V. Chenthamarakshan to the post. The decision was taken at an extended district committee meeting as part of the party’s review of its recent electoral performance.

The change in district secretary during an interim organisational review is unusual. The move follows the party’s setbacks in the Assembly and local-body elections in Palakkad, traditionally a strong district for the CPI(M).

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) lost Chittur, Kongad and Thrithala Assembly seats to the United Democratic Front (UDF) in the elections held in April. The CPI(M) also recorded a decline in its vote share in several of its traditional strongholds. Its vote tally in the district fell by 67,000 compared with the 2021 Assembly election.