M A Baby Elected CPM General Secretary Amid Kerala-Bengal Factional Rift

Thiruvananthapuram: Senior CPM leader from Kerala and a former minister, M A Baby, was Sunday elected as the sixth party general secretary at the politburo meeting held during the 24th party congress in Madurai, according to reports reaching here. He will be the second leader from Kerala to lead the party after the veteran EMS Namboodiripad.

A section of the party leaders, especially from Bengal, had backed All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) president Ashok Dhawale for the post, thus revealing the deep fault line in the party.

Baby’s name was proposed by senior leader Prakash Karat. According to reports, 11 out of 16 Politburo members endorsed Baby’s name while the rest opposed him. Those who opposed his nomination included Surjya Kanta Mishra, Mohammed Salim, Nilotpal Basu, Ramachandra Dome, and Ashok Dhawale -- mainly the Bengal faction.

There are reports indicating that the CPM is being dominated by the Kerala faction as it is the only state where the party is in power. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's views hold more weight and the opinions of the Bengal unit are often brushed aside.

The differences came out in the open recently when the interim coordinator Prakash Karat indicated that the case involving Veena Vijayan, the daughter of Pinarayi Vijayan, would be fought legally and politically by the party.

But Mohammed Salim, the incumbent State Secretary of the CPM in West Bengal was of the opinion that the case should be fought at the individual level and the party should not be involved.

There are serious differences of opinion between the Kerala and Bengal faction on the issue of alliances with other parties.

All these issues would have to be dealt by Baby who turned 71 on Saturday.

Baby was selected as a member of the Rajya Sabha at the age of 32. In 2006, he was elected to the Kerala Assembly. During his tenure, he served as the Minister for Education and Culture in the VS Achuthanandan Cabinet from 2006 to 2011.