Mr. Baby, formerly the Education and Culture Minister in Kerala, is the second leader from the Kerala unit to helm the party nationally. He succeeds Sitaram Yechury who passed away on 12 September 2024.
The congress elected an 85-member Central Committee (CC) — the highest decision-making body of the party — with 30 new faces. At its first meeting, the CC elected an 18-member Polit Bureau (PB), its executive authority, with Amra Ram, Vijoo Krishnan, Mariam Dhawale, U. Vasuki, K. Balakrishnan, Jitendra Choudhury, Srideep Bhattacharya and Arun Kumar as the new entrants.
Mr. Baby said that the party would aim to build its independent strength besides seeking to achieve a coming together of Leftist forces. “We don’t want to conceal the fact that there has been a decline in our strength. Unless we find out why this has happened, we will not be able to do a course correction,” he said.
With the aim of defeating the “neo-fascist BJP”, the party would build a political opposition based on the circumstances prevailing in each State. In Kerala, where the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front is in power, the goal would be to retain power for a third term after the 2026 Assembly elections for which Mr. Vijayan would lead the party, he added.
Who is the new CPIM Secretary General?
M.A. Baby was born on April 5, 1954, in Prakkulam in the Kollam district of Kerala. He completed his schooling there and went on to SN College, where he pursued a bachelor of arts degree in political science.
He became one of the youngest members of the Rajya Sabha in 1986 at the age of 32, and maintained his position till 1998. He also served as education minister in the VS Achuthanandan-led Kerala government between 2006 and 2011.
M.A. Baby is a member of the Communist Party's Political Bureau since 2012.
