MADURAI: Mariam Alexander Baby, the veteran Marxist from Kerala and the former minister in the state, will now helm the affairs of CPM in the country. Baby is likely to be the new General Secretary of the CPM after getting the Politburo's approval. MA Baby will thus become the second Malayali to reach the general secretary post after veteran EMS Namboodiripad.

The recommendation reached before the Politburo on Saturday, but the decision was delayed until Sunday morning.

Apart from MA Baby, the names of Politburo members Ashok Dhawale from Maharashtra and Raghavulu from Andhra Pradesh were considered for the post of General Secretary. Raghavalu had indicated in a press conference the other day that he would not run for the post of General Secretary.

It is reported that the Bengal unit will not demand a vote for electing the General secretary. Apart from Kerala members, MA Baby had the support of Politburo coordinator Prakash Karat. The Bengal unit had rooted for Dhawale, who recently provided strong leadership to the farmers' strike and other issues. The Bengal faction opined that the party would have benefitted from Dhawale’s leadership.

However, a final decision was made to pick a leader from Kerala, the remaining stronghold of communist forces. The selection is believed to have a decisive impact on the growth of the organization.