Mariam Alexander Baby is an Indian

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and education reformist politician who is currently serving as the General Secretary of the

Communist Party of India (Marxist) The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)) is a Communism in India, communist List of political parties in India, political party in India. It is the largest communist party in India in terms of membership and electora ...

. He has served as a member of both the Rajya Sabha and the Kerala Legislative Assembly, and held the position of Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs in the Government of Kerala from 2006 to 2011. He was elected to the Politburo of CPI(M) in the 20th Congress held at Kozhikode, Kerala, in 2012. Baby is known for his contributions to the public education system in Kerala and is currently a member of the CPI(M) Politburo, the party's highest decision-making body.

Personal life

M. A. Baby was born to

Latin rite Latin Rite may refer to: *The Latin Church, a ''sui iuris'' church of the Catholic Church *The Latin liturgical rites, a family of Christian rites and uses which includes the Roman Rite *The Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritua ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

parents P. M. Alexander and Lilly Alexander on 5 April 1954 at Prakkulam in

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

district of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. Baby did his schooling from Prakkulam Lower Primary School and Prakkulam NSS High School & also served as an altar-boy at the local St. Elizabeth's Church in Prakkulam in the diocese of Kollam. It was during his high school days where he was first acquainted with politics. After completing basic schooling, Baby went to Sree Narayan College, Kollam for pre-degree (plus two). Later, Baby joined for BA in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in SN College itself. However, he was unable to finish his bachelor's degree. He is married to Betty Louis and has a son named Ashok Betty Nelson.

Political life

M.A. Baby joined Kerala Students Federation, the predecessor of

Students Federation of India The Students' Federation of India (SFI) is a left-wing student organization in India that upholds ideology of independence, democracy, and socialism. History The origin of Indian students movement in its organised form can be traced to th ...

, while he was studying at NSS high school, Prakkulam in

Kollam district Kollam district (), (formerly Quilon district) is one of 14 List of districts in Kerala, districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major La ...

. He has held many responsible positions in the Students Federation of India, the

Democratic Youth Federation of India Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) is a youth organisation in India. It was founded in its inaugural conference held from 1–3 November 1980 at Shaheed Kartar Singh Saraba village in Ludhiana, Punjab. DYFI was formed as an independent ...

, and the

. Currently he is a

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

member of CPI(M). He served as a Member of Parliament from

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

from 1986 to 1998. He was the Minister of Education in Kerala from 2006 until 2011. He unsuccessfully contested from

against N. K. Premachandran of Revolutionary Socialist Party during the

2014 Indian general election General elections were held in India in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May 2014 to elect the members of the 16th Lok Sabha. With 834 million registered voters, they were the largest-ever elections in the world until being surpassed by the 2019 ...

s. He was elected as the General Secretary of the CPI(M) from the 24th Party Congress at

Madurai Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...

on 6th April 2025.

Electoral performance

References

External links

Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baby, M. A. Communist Party of India (Marxist) politicians from Kerala Malayali politicians 1954 births Living people Indian atheists Sree Narayana College, Kollam alumni Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidates in the 2014 Indian general election Kerala MLAs 2006–2011 Kerala MLAs 2011–2016 Education ministers of Kerala Rajya Sabha members from Kerala Students' Federation of India All India Presidents DYFI All India Presidents