The 24th congress of the party, which ended in Madurai on Sunday (April 6, 2025), also elected an 18-member Polit Bureau with eight new members
AMN / MADURAI
Senior party leader and former Kerala minister M A Baby has been elected as the CPI(M) general secretary at the 24th party congress here on Sunday.
Baby has been a member of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the CPI(M), since 2012.
The post of the party general secretary fell vacant following the death of Sitaram Yechury last year, after which Prakash Karat took over as the interim coordinator.
The 24th party congress of the CPI(M) began on April 2 and will end on Sunday.
He was a member of the Rajya Sabha from 1986 to 1998.
Born to P M Alexander and Lilly Alexander in Kerala’s Prakkulam in 1954, Baby’s first exposure to politics came when he joined the Kerala Students Federation, the predecessor of the Students Federation of India, during his school days.
Born on April 5, 1954, in Kollam, Kerala, M.A. Baby, son of P.M. Alexander and Lilly Alexander, developed an early interest in politics during his school years in NSS High School Prakkulam.
The 24th party Congress decided to increase the number of Politburo members to 18 from existing 17. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan – already on extension – was given further extension in the Politburo.
Eight new politburo members were elected. They include Mariyam Dhawale (Maharashtra), U Vasuki (Tamil Nadu), Amra Ram (Rajasthan), Vijoo Krishnan (Delhi), Arun Kumar (Delhi), Jithendra Choudhary (Tripura), Sreedeep Bhattacharya (West Bengal) and K Balakrishnan (Tamil Nadu).
Veterans Prakash Karat, Brinda Karat, Manik Sarkar and Subhashini Ali, who stepped down from the Politburo due to the age-cap criterion, have been made invitees.