The Indian Union Muslim League has appointed a Hindu leader as its Kerala state vice-president for the first time, elevating 61-year-old Shyam Sundar to one of its top organisational posts.

The decision was announced on Wednesday as part of a state committee restructuring under the party’s ‘one person, one post’ principle. Several ministers and MLAs gave up party posts in the reshuffle.

Shyam Sundar, a native of Haripad in Alappuzha, comes from a left political background. He served as state treasurer of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the CPI-M’s youth wing, before joining the IUML in 2009. He later became a member of the party’s state secretariat.

The move is seen as a signal that the Muslim-identity party is reaching beyond its traditional social base as it tries to expand in southern Kerala.

‘This is the first time in the Muslim League’s history that a non-Muslim leader has been given such a top organisational position,’ the party said in its announcement.