Thiruvananthapuram | O J Janeesh has been appointed as the new state president of the Youth Congress, Kerala, a post that fell vacant following the resignation of Rahul Mamkootathil MLA over multiple sexual abuse allegations against him.

While Binu Chulliyil has been appointed as the working president of the state Youth Congress, popular faces of the organisation, Abin Varkey and KM Abhijith, have been appointed as national secretaries, party sources said here on Monday.

Janeesh, who has been serving as the state vice president of the Youth Congress since 2023, hails from Kodungallur in Thrissur. He entered politics through the Kerala Students Union (KSU) and was the unit president at Perumbavoor Polytechnic.

Meanwhile, resentment is brewing in the old A and I groups of the Congress over the denial of opportunities for Abin Varkey and Abhijith -- two popular faces of the outfit -- to lead the State Youth Congress.

Sources within these groups said that a complaint will be lodged with the high command.

The groups feel that the appointments were made unilaterally, without taking into account the sentiments of senior party leaders and youth Congres workers from the state.

Sources said they believe that natural justice was denied to both Varkey, who was the vice president of the organisation, and Abhijith, a former president of the Kerala Students Union (KSU).

Sources said they would petition the high command against what they described as an authoritarian approach, which they believe could damage the organisation ahead of the crucial Assembly bypolls.

Meanwhile, Janeesh said that there would be a change of government in Kerala within a few months and that the Youth Congress would lead a series of intense protest programmes across the state to spearhead the political change.