Kerala leader MA Baby first CPM general secretary from minority group

MADURAI: Veteran leader MA Baby was elected CPM general secretary at its 24th All India Party Congress, which concluded on Sunday. A new Central Committee and Politburo were also elected.

The 84-member Central Committee includes 30 new faces. The Committee also elected an 18-member Politburo, including eight new members, while several top leaders stepped down after crossing the age ceiling.

Baby is the second leader from the party's Kerala unit to be elected to the top post, following in the footsteps of CPM stalwart EMS Namboodiripad. A section of leaders had put their weight behind All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) president Ashok Dhawale for the top post.

Sources said Surya Kanta Mishra, Nilotpal Basu, Mohd Salim and Ramchandra Dome were among those who backed Dhawale.

Karat, who served as interim coordinator in the run-up to the congress following the passing of general secretary Sitaram Yechury, said, "The congress has chalked out a political line for the future, the organisational steps needed to take the party forward and, on that basis, it has elected a new leadership, a new Central Committee, a new Politburo and a new general secretary."

Baby, who has been a member of the Politburo since 2012, called himself an "obedient soldier" of the party.

Speaking to reporters after his election, the veteran leader admitted there had been a decline in the party's strength and said every CPM member needed to come together to achieve the goal of strengthening it.

In the evening, as a culmination of the five-day party congress, CPM cadres in large numbers took out a massive rally that ended near Ring road at Vandiyur in Madurai, sources said.

Besides Karat, Tamil Nadu state secretary P Shanmugam, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Politburo members Brinda Karat, G Ramakrishnan and former state secretary K Balakrishnan were among those who participated in the rally, sources said.