M. A. Baby | Congenial comrade Premium

Mariam Alexander Baby, the new General Secretary of CPI(M), faces challenges in uniting the Left and securing electoral victories.

In a political landscape ruled by grandstanding and strategising, Mariam Alexander Baby’s election as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was as quiet as it was resolute. After remaining in the shadows for several years, he emerged as the right choice for the role at the 24th Party Congress held in Madurai. He is the second leader from Kerala, after E.M.S Namboodiripad, to assume the role.

Mr. Baby’s political career is marked by an unwavering commitment to the Left ideology, which also worked as an ideal compass guiding his journey. His congeniality, his comrades say, has not been a carefully crafted performance, but an inherent trait facilitating better communication, even across political lines.

Born into a Latin Christian family at Prakkulam in Kerala’s Kollam district, Mr. Baby’s political journey began during his formative years as a member of the Kerala Students Federation, the precursor to the Students Federation of India (SFI). Sree Narayana College, Kollam, where he pursued his higher studies, played an integral part in shaping the politician and individual that he is. His contemporaries remember him as a true-blue Marxist, a bibliophile and a cineaste, and a comrade with deep appreciation for arts and literature.

The 1970s presented a challenging landscape for Left-leaning student movements and his leadership evolved within this fiery crucible of student politics. There was fervent activism and arrests as he rose through the ranks, becoming the State president of the SFI in 1975. He was a 20-year-old at that time, and within months he faced arrest and persecution following the declaration of Emergency.

Mr. Baby was elected the national president of the SFI in 1979, and in 1987, he took over as the national president of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). At the age of 32, he was nominated to the Rajya Sabha and his term lasted from 1986 to 1998. In 1989, he was elected to the CPI(M) Central Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, and in 1992, he entered the CPI(M) Central Secretariat. He was made a Polit Bureau member in 2012.

In the 2006 Assembly polls, Mr. Baby was elected from the Kundara constituency in Kollam and served as Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs in the Left Front-government led by V.S. Achuthanandan. During his ministerial tenure, the introduction of the chapter Mathamillatha Jeevan (Life Without Religion) in the Class VII social science textbook sparked a controversy. This described a child named Jeevan raised without religious affiliation, with the aim of promoting secular values. However, this inclusion ignited significant protests from various religious groups as an attempt to promote atheism. The lesson was revised and Mr. Baby sought to pacify protesters, maintaining that the lesson was not against religion or god.

Another controversy erupted following his remarks on the assault on T.J. Joseph for alleged blasphemy.