M.A. Baby was elected as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the party’s 24th All India Conference in Madurai on April 6, 2025.
| Photo Credit: G. Moorthy
CPI-M’s newly elected general secretary M.A. Baby on Sunday (April 6, 2025) said while the party recognised the decline of the Left in India, “through the introspection and self analysis made in the 24th party congress we have decided to move towards the masses and learn from them and in turn, to educate them.”
Speaking at a public meeting organised by the party on the concluding day of its 24th congress in Madurai, Mr. Baby said a global perception was created that the world was moving towards the Right, but, they fail to notice that about 25% of the global population in the world live in countries ruled by Left parties.
“In Cuba, Korea, Vietnam, China, Latin America countries and the newly added Sri Lanka were showing how the Left and progressive governments still prevail over the right-wing governments,” Mr. Baby observed.
The perception that right-wing forces were growing in India was due to the “unfortunate grand influence formed by the reactionary forces” and certain media forces, he added.
“The Left, which was a part of the government in West Bengal, was thrown away by the semi-fascist rules. But the Left overcame that and ruled the State for three more decades,” he noted.
Taking pride in witnessing the flag hoisting in the 24th party congress, which was brought from Keezhvenmani, Mr. Baby said the struggle of Dalit working class people against the landlords and untouchability was a history etched in the history.
“Those who fought against the powerful people for better wage and equal rights in Keezhvenmani, by refusing to lower down their red flag for the conspiracies of landlord, showed the world that they would not abandon their flag at any cost,” he recalled.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan addressing the gathering, said even when the world was moving towards more progressive governments, the ruling dispensation in India was refusing to stand with the struggles for liberation of Palestine people.
However, he felt the rise of Left and progressive forces displayed that there was an overall rise in the acceptance of scientific socialism.
“The ruling BJP government in India through divisive policies like Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, was planning to divide the people based on their religion,” he charged. This was not just a ploy against Muslim community but against the minorities as a whole.
In a recent incident, the makers of Malayalam film ‘Empuraan’ were coerced into trimming scenes which depicted the real incidents, he said.
But, while the film portrayed neither communist ideology, minority politics, the BJP government overriding the censor board made the makers cut out parts of the film, Mr. Vijayan stated.
“When the BJP government thinks that they are working against the ruling LDF government in Kerala and DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu, they are actually working against the people of the States,” he said..
Senior party leader Brinda Karat said the kaffiyeh scarf they were wearing on the occasion of the public meeting was symbolising their stand against the zionist forces and governments supporting them.
“The party meeting which began with remembering the 22 martyrs who lost their lives in the struggle towards liberation signifies the role of the communists in the country,” she added.
“Even when the authoritarian government tries to subdue the communists by killing them, we will remind them that we can never be silenced,” Ms. Karat said.
Earlier, to mark the beginning of the public meeting, Vacthathi fighters led a march of the red and khaki clad party cadre towards the venue of the meeting.
Senior leaders like State secretary P. Shanmugam, K. Balakrishnan, U. Vasuki, Madurai MP Su. Venkatesan, G. Ramakrishnan among other leaders, were present on the dais.
Published – April 06, 2025 11:06 pm IST