The revolution is still awaited by the comrades. But a generational change — apparently Prakash Karat is loath to use this phrase — may have arrived, seemingly sweeping away the Old Guard of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). That the CPI(M) is inclined towards blooding a new crop of leaders was made apparent by the structural changes that were announced at the party’s 24th Congress in Madurai. Several old hands, and members of the Old Guard — Mr Karat, Brinda Karat, Manik Sarkar and Subhashini Ali — have bowed out from the influential decision-making structures of the party. Minakshi Mukherjee, one of the party’s younger faces, has made it to the Central Committee. The CPI(M) also has a new general-secretary in M.A. Baby. As is often the case in the CPI(M), Mr Baby’s elevation witnessed subtle sabre-rattling between the party’s Bengal and Kerala lobbies: in fact, Mr Baby’s candidature was opposed by the former but the current heft of the Kerala faction turned the tables in favour of the new general-secretary. Bengal’s representatives had to stay content with a greater representation from the state in the CPI(M)’s Central Committee.

But the inner power tussles are probably the last thing on Mr Baby’s mind. This is because the former minister and two-time Rajya Sabha member has taken up the reins of the CPI(M) during a challenging time for the party. The only state in which the Left is in power is Kerala. Bengal and Tripura, two other states that had witnessed long spells of communist rule, remain out of reach. Even in Kerala, Mr Baby has to be mindful of the challenges posed by its traditional rival, the Congress, which is itching to return to power, as well as an ambitious Bharatiya Janata Party that is energetically attempting to make inroads into the state. Kerala’s Church, there are whispers, is a willing ally in this endeavour by the BJP.

Mr Baby, who has Christian roots, may have been a strategic choice for party general-secretary in this regard. His challenges on the national plane are even stiffer. Mr Baby has stepped into the shoes of Sitaram Yechury, who, like Harkishan Singh Surjeet before him, was adept in stitching up a coalition of even strange bedfellows to take on the saffron surge. It remains to be seen whether Mr Baby has the suppleness to prioritise political pragmatism over ideological conformity in his mission to blow life into a moribund Opposition.