Rousing welcome for new CPI-M General Secretary M.A. Baby on return to Kerala

Hundreds of the party supporters, including top leaders, were present to receive him at the entrance of the headquarters.

Addressing the media, Baby said issues concerning the country were discussed by comrades representing one million party workers at the 24th Party Congress in Tamil Nadu's Madurai from April 2 to 6.

"Now my job is to implement what has been planned and discussed at the Party Congress. I want to reiterate what I said in Madurai, there were others more able than me , but now I am bestowed with the job and I have taken it up. The love and affection that is seen here is not for me, but for the party," he said.

"One political resolution that was passed in Madurai was the increasing fascist tendency of the (Narendra) Modi government, especially the attack on the film ("Empuraan") recently released. One character in the film portrays (someone in) the Gujarat riots, and following that, the Enforcement Directorate has swooped down on those behind it. It is a blatant violation of law, as this (the film) was given a censorship certificate by a board which is stuffed with RSS followers and still the film and its makers have been hunted," Baby added.

"Another resolution that was passed was that the entire party in the country has been asked to rally behind the Kerala government, which is being strangulated by the Centre," said Baby.

Baby, 72, is a two-time Rajya Sabha member and also a two-time legislator in the Kerala Assembly.

During the V.S. Achuthanandan tenure (2006-11), he was the state Education Minister.

Known for his soft-spoken nature, he rose through the ranks in the party and reached the Politburo of the CPI-M in 2012.

But in his long political career, he suffered a rude jolt when, while being a legislator, he lost by around 37,000 votes to N.K.Premachandran of the RSP in Kollam during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

After his defeat, Baby, on account of his Politburo status membership, was mostly kept silent and stayed put in Delhi. However, since the sudden demise of sitting CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, his name started doing the rounds as his successor, and things fell in place at Madurai for him.

Baby is just the second person from Kerala after E.M.S. Nampoothiripad to get the coveted post and he became a member of the CPI-M's Central Committee before Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was inducted into it.

Baby, by his critics, is considered to stick to ideology more than being a practical Communist, and this is going to be a challenge. And then, it is commonly known that he and Vijayan have never been on the same page.