The CPM has a new boss in M A Baby, a veteran of many battles. These are difficult times for Left politics in India in general and CPM in particular, and, as general secretary of India’s main communist party, Baby’s challenges are enormous and immediate. Baby declared his biggest task is to resist the Sangh Parivar and the BJP government. It is understandable from an ideological perspective, but the ground realities say his party, with under 2 percent vote share in the country, is grossly underpowered to put up a significant resistance nationally. To be fair to Baby, he also acknowledged the relevance of the Congress and the importance of a national-level alliance to take on the BJP. Yet, his party neither has the numerical strength to play a decision-making role in such an alliance nor the clout to ensure its unity.
In such a scenario, the challenges for Baby are mostly within the organisation and in Kerala, the party’s only stronghold. The best way to begin is to acknowledge this and resist being carried away by the lure of a national image. The simple truth is that CPM may have a new national general secretary, but it still has no national presence. So, his first task should be to change this situation. He can focus on improving the party’s strength through expansion beyond Kerala, especially where it once had a considerable presence. He also has the task of preserving the currently fragile Left unity. In Kerala, Baby must be able to suitably intervene to address the twin challenges of the loss of popularity of the LDF government and the gradual erosion of the support base.
There are two ways for Baby to go about his job. One is to be content with the situation and do nothing. There won’t be any complaints, and he won’t be judged or compared because there aren’t any expectations in the first place. The second is to devise a plan to change the status quo and restore the CPM’s national relevance. In that case, his will be the toughest political assignment in contemporary India. Despite his seniority and experience, Baby had been virtually sidelined in Kerala politics in the last few years. This is a lifeline for the communist veteran and a chance to rewrite his story.