Kerala Politics: CPM veteran and general secretary Sitaram Yechury has passed away. With his death, leftist politics has lost a great leader. After Yechury's death, it will be a challenge for the CPM to find his replacement. Sitaram Yechury was a popular face from Kerala to Delhi and his importance was seen in the relevance of leftist forces in national politics. Meanwhile, the search for his replacement is going on in the CPM. According to sources, a decision on Sitaram Yechury's successor can be taken within the next one week.
Sitaram Yechury's term was to end in April next year, so another leader had to be chosen, but now before that this issue will have to be deliberated upon. So far, the names being discussed are M.A. Baby and A. Vijayraghavan from Kerala, who are leading the pack. The total 17 members of the Politburo include leaders like Brinda Karat, Prakash Karat and Manik Sarkar, who are now over 75 years of age. The CPM also has a rule that leaders over 75 years of age should not be given organisational responsibilities.
The leaders included in the Politburo include Tapan Sen from Bengal, BV Raghavulu from Andhra and MA from Kerala. Baby are those who are below 75 years of age. It is being said that only the Kerala lobby is strong in the CPM because the party is in power in the state. Apart from this, the Left party is now in a weak position in states like Bengal and Tripura. So it is very possible that the leaders of the Kerala lobby can only bow down to MA Baby.
MA Baby has been a CPM leader for decades and was the All India President of the student organization SFI 40 years ago. Sitaram Yechury got the command only after resigning from his post. Now after the death of Yechury, MA Baby can become the General Secretary of the party in his place. Politburo Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, MV Govindan and A. Vijayaraghavan are also members of the Politburo, which is influential. Meanwhile, speculations are being made that the party may get its next General Secretary from the Kerala lobby.