Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 7 (IANS) In a significant move with wider political implications, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) on Wednesday appointed a Hindu as its party’s Kerala State Vice-President for the first time, elevating Shyam Sundar, a native of Haripad in Alappuzha, to one of the party’s top organisational positions.
The appointment comes as the IUML has undertaken a restructuring of its state committee while implementing its ‘one person, one post’ principle.
Shyam Sundar, currently a member of the party’s State Secretariat, will now serve as one of its state vice-presidents.
The move assumes significance as the League seeks to expand its organisational and political presence in southern Kerala.
Sundar has also emerged as an example of the party’s effort to accommodate leaders from outside its traditional Muslim social base in senior organisational positions.
Sundar has a political background in the CPI-M and had earlier served as the State Treasurer of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI).
He had also held a position in the organisation’s national level leadership.
He joined the IUML in 2009, when factionalism was strong within the CPI-M.
After joining the League, he served as the state vice-president of the Farmers’ Association and later became a member of the IUML state secretariat with responsibility for Pathanamthitta district.
The organisational reshuffle has also resulted in several leaders holding elected or statutory positions giving up their party posts in accordance with the ‘one person, one post’ policy.
Ministers K.M. Shaji and N. Shamsudeen have relinquished their positions as state secretaries.
V. Abdul Ghafoor has also stepped down as Ernakulam district general secretary.
Dalit leader U.C. Raman will continue as the IUML state secretary.
The party’s latest restructuring comes against the backdrop of its efforts to strengthen its organisation and broaden its presence in areas beyond its traditional centres of influence.
Sundar’s elevation is particularly notable because it marks the first time that a Hindu has been appointed to the post of IUML state vice-president, giving the organisational changes a wider political dimension.
–IANS
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