Agartala: April 06: M.A Baby has been appointed to the position vacated by Sitaram Yechury. At the CPM’s Madurai Party Congress, the Kerala leader was chosen as the General Secretary. His selection for the top position has significantly strengthened the southern influence within the CPM. Meanwhile, due to age restrictions, former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has been excluded from the CPM’s highest decision-making bodies, the Politburo and the Central Committee. In his place, Jitendra Choudhury, the party’s state secretary and leader of the opposition from Tripura, has become a new member of the Politburo. Additionally, four new members from Tripura—Manik Dey, Ratan Bhowmik, Naresh Jamatia, and Krishna Rakshit—have been included in the Central Committee.
In the past, southern leaders like P. Sundarayya (Andhra Pradesh) and EMS Namboodiripad (Kerala) have held the position of CPM General Secretary. After them, Punjab’s Harkishan Singh Surjeet led the party for a long time, during which the CPM saw significant growth. However, after his death in 2005, the baton was passed to Prakash Karat. During Karat’s tenure, the CPM severed ties with the UPA over the nuclear deal issue. After Karat’s era, Sitaram Yechury took over. Following the tenure of these two southern leaders, it was speculated that the CPM might choose a leader from outside the south for the top position. However, the Madurai Party Congress entrusted the responsibility of reshaping the CPM’s image to Mariam Alexander Baby, a former education minister and a 12-year Rajya Sabha MP from Kerala’s Kollam.
Due to age restrictions, seven outgoing Politburo members were expected to step down. This list included Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, Subhashini Ali, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, Bengal’s Surjya Kanta Mishra, and Tamil Nadu’s G. Ramakrishnan. However, as an exception, Vijayan has been retained in both the Central Committee and the Politburo, while the other six have stepped down.
Notably, former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, who had been a Politburo member for a long time, has stepped down due to age restrictions. Sarkar became a Politburo member in 1998 at the age of 49 and served continuously for 27 years in the party’s highest decision-making body. As a new member, Jitendra Choudhury, the CPM’s state secretary and leader of the opposition from Tripura, has joined the Politburo. Additionally, Manik Dey, Ratan Bhowmik, Naresh Jamatia, and Krishna Rakshit have been included as new members of the CPM’s Central Committee.
