Veteran leader Mariam Alexander Baby, widely known as M A Baby, has been elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] at the party’s 24th Congress in Madurai.
Baby succeeds Sitaram Yechury, who passed away in September 2024 due to ill health.
The 71-year-old leader from Kerala becomes the second Kerlaite to hold the position after E M S Namboodiripad and the first Christian to hold the top position of the left party.
Following Yechury’s sudden demise last year, former CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat had temporarily taken over as the party’s coordinator until a new leader was chosen.
Baby secured the position after prevailing over Ashok Dhawale, the president of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). Of the 16 Politburo members, 11 backed Baby, ensuring his election as the party’s top leader.
Born in 1954 in Prakkulam, Kollam district of Kerala, Baby’s political journey began in his school days when he joined the Kerala Students Federation, the predecessor of the Students Federation of India (SFI). He later became a prominent figure in the CPI(M), serving as Kerala’s Education Minister and holding a Rajya Sabha seat for two terms from 1986 to 1998. He has been a member of the CPI(M) Politburo, the party’s highest decision-making body, since 2012.
The 24th Congress of the CPI(M), which commenced on April 2, concluded with Baby’s election as General Secretary on Sunday.
 [CPI(M)] at the party’s 24th Congress in Madurai. ){kind=link}