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Journalism of Courage
Former Kerala education minister M A Baby was unveiled as the next national general secretary of the CPI(M) on Sunday. The CPI(M) party congress, which is held once every three years, concluded in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with party coordinator Prakash Karat suggesting Baby’s name for the top party post.
Baby, 70, is a leader who rose through the ranks of the CPI(M), starting with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and later the youth wing of the party, the DYFI (Democratic Youth Federation of India). He was the CPI(M)’s Rajya Sabha MP from 1986 to 1998.
While Baby was named the next leader of the Left party, a section of leaders in the Polit Bureau, the party’s highest decision-making body, suggested the name of All India Kisan Sabha president Ashok Dhawale, who is also a popular leader. Since its previous general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s death last September, Karat had been after the party’s affairs in an interim capacity.
Baby’s elevation to the top post also coincided with the party ushering in a generational shift in the Polit Bureau by inducting eight new members, including U Vasuki, Vijoo Krishnan, Mariam Dhawale, Srideep Bhattacharya, Amra Ram and K Balakrishnan, sources said. Veterans such as Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, and Manik Sarkar will step down.
Baby belongs to the rung of party leaders who think that CPI(M) needs to gain back its mass appeal. In a recent interview, he said the party has to rebuild its mass base. The party’s footprint is currently restricted to Kerala, where an alliance led by it is in power. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is among the members of the Polit Bureau and is believed to have supported Baby’s candidature.
