Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 13, 2025

Five years ago, Arya Rajendran was celebrated as a symbol of generational change. At 21, she became the youngest mayor in the country, a poster figure for the CPI(M)’s claim that a new, responsive Left leadership had arrived in Kerala’s capital.

In 2025, as the Left Democratic Front lost control of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation for the first time in nearly five decades, that narrative has unraveled dramatically.

In a rare and telling moment of public dissent, sharp criticism of Rajendran’s tenure has come from within the party itself.

Gayathri Babu, a young CPI-M leader and outgoing councilor, launched a scathing Facebook critique in the wake of the defeat, accusing the leadership of arrogance, detachment from the grassroots, and a steady erosion o

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