THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The selection of Pannian Raveendran as the state CPI secretary was as extraordinary as his looks with long locks, quite unusual for a mainstream politician.The choice of Pannian, an ardent fan, player and commentator of football, sounded like a perfect scissorcut from the central leadership. It was unprecedented for a national secretariat member to become the state secretary. But the situation was made inevitable as the State Council was sharply divided in choosing between two senior leaders C Divakaran and Kanam Rajendran. “This is big responsibility for me”, Pannian told reporters after being selected for the top post. “I will follow the ideas espoused by late Chandrappan and strive for the unity of Left parties,” he said.A native of Kakkattil in Kannur, the unassuming comrade joined CPI at the age of 19. He had earlier served as party Assistant Secretary.He represented Thiruvananthapuram in the 14th Lok Sabha when the seat fell vacant due to the demise of P K Vasudevan Nair. Pannian got a thumping majority in the election where the LDF was ably supported by late K Karunakaran.But Pannian hit the headlines when he retracted to a politically correct stand soon after he tasted the sweet victory. But he was not given a second time as the party felt in its assessment that his performance in Parliament was not quite convincing. He had unsuccessfully contested in the Paravoor segment in the last Assembly elections against V D Satheesan.He is one of the most popular faces of the CPI as a panelist on TV talk shows. The challenge awaiting him as the state secretary which was adorned by many stalwarts, will be much higher, going by Monday’s events at the party headquarters.
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