Former Kerala Minister M A Baby elected CPI-M 6th General Secretary

Former Kerala Minister Mariam Alexander Baby, or MA Baby, has been elected as the 6th General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI-M.  M A Baby was elected as the new General Secretary of CPI-M at the  24th congress of the party held in Madurai, Tamil Nadu on 6 April 2025.

The General Secretary is the highest post in the party.

M A Baby replaced Prakash Karat, who became the interim coordinator of the party after the post of the General Secretary fell vacant due to the death of Sitaram Yechury in September 2024.

The CPI(M) holds its party congress once every three years, where party officials are elected.

About M A Baby

71-year-old M.A. Baby is the second leader from Kerala after E.M.S. Namboodiripad to be elected as the General Secretary of the party.

He was associated with the party's Students Federation of India (SFI) and with the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the party's youth wing.

He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1986 and 1992.

He was twice elected to the Kerala legislative assembly from the Kundara constituency from 2006 to 2016. 

He also served as the state’s education minister from 2006-2011.

Since 2012, he has been a member of the Politburo of the party.

About CPI-M 

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) was formed in 1964 after a split in the Communist Party of India (CPI).

The communist movement world over was divided over the Soviet Union and China's struggle for leadership of the communist movement in the world.

A section of the CPI led by E.M.S. Namboodiripad broke away from the CPI over its support for the Soviet Union over China.

They founded CPI-M and followed the Chinese model of communism.

The CPI-M later on emerged as one of the most powerful communist parties. 

CPI-M in alliance with other communist parties ruled West Bengal for 34 years from 1977-2011. 

Currently, it is in power in Kerala with Pinarayi Vijayan being the Chief Minister.

CPI-M is currently recognised as a national political party by the Election Commission of India.

Communist Party of India

• Communist Party of India was founded in 1920 at Tashkent, Uzbekistan by M N Roy and other Indian revolutionaries.
• Within India, it was formed in Kanpur in 1925.

General Secretary of CPI-M 

Since its formation in 1964, there have been 6 General Secretaries of the CPI-M.

They are as follows: 

• First -Puchalapalli Sundarayya from 1964-1978
• Second -E.M.S. Namboodiripad  from 1978-1992
• Third -Harkishan Singh Surjeet  from 1992-2005
• Fourth- Prakas Karat  from  2005-2015
• Fifth - Sitaram Yechury from 2015-2024
• Sixth- M A Baby 2025 onwards