M. Mehboob chosen CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary; 13 new faces in district committee

M. Mehboob appointed as CPI(M) Kozhikode district secretary, succeeding P. Mohanan after three terms, with 40 years of experience.

M. Mehboob has been chosen as the new Kozhikode district secretary of the Communist Party of India Marxist [CPI(M)] at the three-day district conference that concluded in Vadakara on Friday (January 31).

His name was proposed by the newly elected 47-member district committee. Mr. Mehboob, 64, is Consumerfed chairman, a district secretariat member of the party, and district secretary of the Kerala Karshaka Sangham. There are 13 new entrants in the committee including Linto Joseph, Thiruvambady MLA, P.C. Shyju, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) district secretary, L.G. Lijeesh, DYFI district president, and K.P. Bindu, chairperson, Vadakara municipality. The number of district committee members was earlier 45. Eleven people in the previous committee, including senior leaders T.P. Dasan, P. Viswan, R.P. Bhaskaran, K. Kunhamed, P.K. Divakaran, and E. Premkumar have been excluded. P. Mohanan, the outgoing district secretary, had completed three terms at the helm.

Mr. Mehboob, a prominent functionary of the cooperative movement, has over 40 years of public life behind him. According to party sources, he became a member of the CPI(M) in 1977 and worked as the secretary of the Balussery area committee between 1987 and 2001. At the age of 24, he became the president of the Atholi grama panchayat and continued in the post for over seven years, during which the panchayat won the State government award for the best local body. Mr. Mehboob also functioned as the district president of the DYFI.

He was also the vice-chairman and chairman of Kerafed. Mr. Mehboob became the Consumerfed chairman in 2016 and was re-elected in 2024. He played a pivotal role in the distribution of food kits during the pandemic period. He was also part of the State Cooperative Bank, Kozhikode District Cooperative Bank, and now the Kerala Bank, the sources said.

A red volunteer march and a rally were taken out at Narayananagaram in Vadakara, the venue of the conference. Opening the valedictory event, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the Congress of joining hands with majoritarian and minoritarian communalist organisations to get votes in elections. He claimed that the Congress and its allies in the United Democratic Front were engaging in such exercises also to overcome their organisational weaknesses.