A district conference of the Communist Party of India (CPI) that came to a close at Kottayam on Monday elected V.B. Binu as the party district secretary.
Mr. Binu, who replaces C.K. Sasidharan, defeated V.K. Santosh Kumar, a candidate nominated by the CPI State leadership, in an election held at the final session of the three-day conference. Of the total 50 votes polled, Mr. Binu received 29 votes.
The election followed as a meeting of the newly constituted 51-member district committee failed to reach a consensus over the new secretary.
Earlier on Sunday, the Pathanamthitta district committee of the CPI re-elected A.P. Jayan as the district secretary.
