Editorial: Major challenges for new CPI (Marxist) chief MA Baby

The problem with the CPI(M) has been its dogmatic refusal to shed its ideological rigidity, embrace change in tune with the changing times and find new regional heroes to champion contemporary causes

Facing an existential crisis, marked by a steady erosion of support base across the country, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has opted for a generational change of guard, with the election of MA Baby as its new general secretary. The 70-year-old former minister from Kerala faces a plethora of challenges in rejuvenating the party which finds itself at an ideological crossroads. The decision to elevate Baby, a member of the party’s Politburo, to the key post assumes significance as the Marxist party gears up for the next year’s Assembly elections in Kerala, the only State where it is in power. His ascent to the role, during the 24th All India Party Congress held in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai, comes in the aftermath of the demise of Sitaram Yechury in September last year. Veteran leader Prakash Karat had served as the interim coordinator for the CPI(M). For Baby, who served as Kerala’s Education Minister from 2006 to 2011, the major challenge is to revive the party in its old bastions like West Bengal and Tripura and also make inroads in new areas like the Northeast, apart from retaining power in Kerala for a third term. In a major departure from the tradition, the Marxist party inducted new faces into the Central Committee and Politburo. Prakash Karat, his wife Brinda Karat, Surjya Kanta Mishra, Subhashini Ali and G Ramakrishnan were among several veteran leaders who have been replaced. The six-day conclave also witnessed a rare event of election to the Central Committee, indicating internal divisions.

As many as 30 new faces were inducted into the 84-member Central Committee, which elected an 18-member Politburo, with eight new members. The CPI(M) Congress is held every three years to elect the central committee and decide the party line. The problem with the CPI(M) has been its dogmatic refusal to shed its ideological rigidity, embrace change in tune with the changing times and find new regional heroes to champion contemporary causes. Soon after his elevation as the general secretary, Baby identified “neo-fascist tendencies” of the Sangh Parivar and the BJP as the “biggest challenges” before his party. This is a fundamental strategic mistake. Instead of taking up honest self-introspection and course corrections, the party leadership always tends to look for reasons outside and put the blame at the doors of its enemies. Once a formidable pan-India political force, the Marxist party now has just four members in the Lok Sabha, drawing a blank from West Bengal and Tripura, its former strongholds. The fall has been steady and consistent. At its peak in 2004, the party had won 44 Lok Sabha seats, emerging as an alternative voice, and a key outside supporter of the UPA-I government. Its tally fell to 16 in 2009, nine in 2014, three in 2019 and four in 2024.

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