Kannur: CPM State Committee member KK Ragesh was appointed as the party's Kannur District Secretary on Tuesday. He was selected for the post following a meeting of the District Committee, held in the presence of State Secretary MV Govindan. 

Ragesh replaces MV Jayarajan, who was selected to the party's State Secretariat. Apart from Ragesh, M Prakashan and TV Rajesh were also considered for the post, but the district leadership eventually finalised his name. 

Rajesh, a former Rajya Sabha MP, is currently serving as the Private Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He is also the leader of the Karshaka Sangham (farmers' organization).

Ragesh started his political career through SFI and eventually held the organisation's leadership at the state and national levels. He was also the first Malayali to become the All India General Secretary of SFI.

Ragesh was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2015. In 2020, he received the Parliamentary Group for Children (PGC) Award for his advocacy of children's and students' rights in Parliament.

Ragesh was born on May 13, 1970, in Kanhirode in Kannur as the son of C Sreedharan and KK Yeshoda, an agricultural worker. He holds a postgraduate degree in English Literature and a law degree. His wife, Priya Varghese, is an Associate Professor at Kannur University.