THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Apart from his health issues, the case, arrest and controversies surrounding his son Bineesh forced Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the experienced leader of the CPM, to opt for a leave from the post of party state secretary on November 13 for the first time.
However, he soon made a comeback surviving all those pressures and led the party forward. Although he did not take up the post of secretary, he was still the unofficial party secretary. It was Kodiyeri who made strategies along with the Chief Minister in all the seat-sharing discussions in the assembly elections and the policy decisions in the Left Front meetings.
Kodiyeri was diagnosed with cancer in 2019. He returned to life after undergoing treatment abroad and further treatment in Thiruvananthapuram. In 2019, when the world was shaken by Covid, Kodiyeri's public life was closed down by illness and treatment. However, the disease often gave way to the willpower of Kodiyeri, who had crossed various paths of struggle.
Just before the local elections, Kodiyeri was granted a party leave for cancer treatment. It was at this point that his son Bineesh was arrested in a money laundering case. The opposition used this as a weapon. Kodiyeri must have thought that controversies should not become a challenge to the party during the election. Opponents spread the word that Kodiyeri resigned due to his son's arrest.
CPM leadership meetings had initially decided that Kodiyeri should not resign due to the controversies involving his son. Kodiyeri's response was that Bineesh's case is his and his family's problem and if there is a problem related to the individual and the party, the party's interest should be upheld.
Later his leave gave way to many interpretations. Meanwhile, the government was facing challenges in connection with the controversy over the gold smuggling case. Many people think that there was a feeling in the party centres that there is no need for the controversy over the party secretary's son. Later, the fact that neither the Chief Minister nor the party criticized the ED raid on Bineesh's house became a hot topic of discussion.
Kodiyeri gave up the post of party secretary two weeks ago after his health deteriorated. This came as a surprise to many as they did not think that he will take leave from the party. The news of the demise of the CPM's top leader comes amid hopes that he will overcome that challenge and return.