Kanhaiya Kumar joins CPI's national council, Sudhakara Reddy unanimously re-elected as party's general secretary

Kollam (Kerala): S Sudhakara Reddy was unanimously re-elected the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) on Sunday for a third time in a row while former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar found a place in the national council. [caption id=“attachment_2877458” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Reuters[/caption] Ahead of Reddy’s unanimous election at the 23rd party congress in Kollam, a 125-member national council was also elected. It included Kanhaiya Kumar, a former president of the JNU Students Union who was at one time jailed after being charged with sedition. Reddy, a two-time former Lok Sabha member, first became the general secretary in 2012. While the 76-year-old Reddy’s re-election took place without any issues, the selection of the 15 members from Kerala to the CPI’s highest decision-making body saw some hurdles after veteran party leader C Divakaran was not featured in the list. The CPI is divided between state party secretary Kanam Rajendran and veteran KE Ismail. Sunday’s revamp saw six new members to the national council, all of whom owe their allegiance to Rajendran.