Sudhakar Reddy unanimously re-elected CPI general secretary

Veteran leftist leader G Sudhakar Reddy was unanimously re-elected as the CPI general secretary for the third consecutive term, at the party's 23rd congress that concluded here today.

A 126-member National Council, 11-member Secretariat and 11-member Control Commission and 13 Candidate members were also elected at the congress that began on April 25.

Among the prominent faces in the National Council is former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaya Kumar.

The 76-year old Reddy, a two-time member of Lok Sabha, was first elected as party general secretary in 2012.

The party congress called for a broader unity of secular, democratic and Left forces to face the challenge posed by the RSS-BJP, Reddy told reporters after his re-election.

The CPI wanted to include Congress in its fight against the RSS-BJP at the national level, Reddy said.

However, he said as far as Kerala was concerned, the Congress-led UDF would continue to be the political rival of the CPI(M)-led LDF, in which CPI is the second largest partner.

Senior party leader and former Kerala Minister C Divakaran, who was not re-nominated to the National Council expressed displeasure over the decision.