Who is next CPM chief? MA Baby, BV Raghavulu emerge as key contenders

(This copy has been updated with the latest developments)

MA Baby, a politburo member from Kerala and a former state education minister, is likely to be given temporary charge of the CPI(M) general secretary following Sitaram Yechury's death. Another key contender for the top post is BV Raghavalu, another politburo member from Andhra Pradesh. Other names in circulation include Brinda Karat, Mohammed Salim, and Niloptal Basu. 

Reports also say the CPI(M) may push for Brinda Karat since the party never had a woman in the post. Salim, currently the state secretary of West Bengal, may find it inconvenient to take on the role amid the ongoing party conferences.

Baby’s extensive experience, including his tenure as a Rajya Sabha member and his long-standing association with the party centre in Delhi, makes him a strong candidate.

"This is the first time that a serving general secretary has passed away, so the party hasn't discussed a replacement yet. Let us first complete the farewell, and then we'll make a decision," said Baby.

Baby and Kerala angle

However, one potential obstacle could be opposition to Baby from the Kerala unit of the party, particularly chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Baby, known for advocating reforms within the party and for his slightly more liberal stance with connections beyond the party structure, has not aligned well with the Kerala leadership in recent times.

Baby was president of the Students Federation of India (SFI) when Yechury, who died on Thursday, rose to prominence as joint secretary in the late 1970s.

CPI (M) congress

"As we have already begun the organizational conferences, there won’t be an appointment of a new general secretary immediately. Senior members of the politburo will temporarily take on the responsibility, and a new general secretary will be elected at the party congress in Madurai in April 2025," another senior leader said.

Brinda Karat, wife of former CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, is the first woman member of the party’s politburo, which she joined in 2005. She also served in the Rajya Sabha from 2005 to 2011.

Born in 1947, Brinda, who describes herself as an activist, is vocal on gender issues. Educated in Kolkata and Delhi, she worked with Air India in London for four years where protests against the Vietnam war pulled her into political activism.

On her return to Delhi, she joined the CPI(M) and went on to serve the party in various capacities. She married Prakash in 1975. But unlike Yechury and even Baby, she lacks the bond with opposition leaders nationally.

Mohammed Salim

Mohammed Salim, born in 1957, is one of the best-known faces of the CPI(M) in West Bengal, where he has been a minister and served in the Lok Sabha twice.

Articulate and an able organiser, Salim took to politics due to the imposition of Emergency rule in 1975-77 when he was a student. He rose in the party’s ranks, getting elected to the Central Committee in 1998 and to the politburo in 2015.

Salim became the secretary of the West Bengal party unit in 2022, by which time the Marxists had been routed in their once-Red bastion. His and his colleagues' efforts to rejuvenate the party in West Bengal since then have not borne fruit.

BV Raghavalu

BV Raghavalu is another strong contender, as per latest reports. Born in Andhra Pradesh, Raghavalu took to politics even while the Emergency rule was on and he remained underground, helping the CPI(M) to organize itself in the state at a time of distress.