Kannur (Kerala) | Former Rajya Sabha MP K K Ragesh was on Tuesday elected as the new secretary of the CPI(M)'s Kannur district committee.

The decision was made during the CPI(M)'s district committee meeting, which was attended by senior party leaders, including state secretary M V Govindan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Ragesh replaces M V Jayarajan, who has been elected to the CPI(M)'s state secretariat.

A close confidant of Vijayan, Ragesh is also a member of the CPI(M) state committee and has served as the Chief Minister's private secretary.

A law graduate, Ragesh also holds the position of national joint secretary in the All India Kisan Sabha.

He has also held leadership positions in the Students' Federation of India (SFI), including its all-India president and general secretary.

The meeting also constituted a 12-member district secretariat to provide the leadership for party activities in Kannur, a stronghold of the CPI(M).

Besides Govindan and Vijayan, the party's Central Committee members E P Jayarajan and K K Shailaja were present at the meeting.