Madurai (PTI): Former Kerala minister M A Baby appeared to be the frontrunner for the post of CPI(M) general secretary with the Politburo backing him, even as leaders from West Bengal backed All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) president Ashok Dhawale.
According to sources, many leaders backed Baby at a meeting of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body of the CPI(M), on Saturday night.
However, leaders from West Bengal, including Nilotpal Basu, Tapan Sen, Ram Chandra Dome and Md Salim, put their weight behind Dhawale, the sources said.
Dhawale initially proposed Salim's name but Salim said he wanted to continue as the secretary for West Bengal, where the CPI(M) is working to regain foothold. The leaders from the state then proposed Dhawale's name.
The final decision on the general secretary will be taken after the new Central Committee and Politburo are decided on Sunday.
Many of Baby's supporters gathered at the venue of the ongoing party congress, held once every three years, in Sitaram Yechury Nagar here and raised slogans backing him.
Several top leaders of the Politburo are likely to step down as they have crossed the age of 75.
According to the sources, members said during the Politburo meeting that Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should get another extension.
Vijayan, 79, was given an extension in the last party congress as well.
Brinda Karat (77), Subhashini Ali (77), Prakash Karat (77), Manik Sarkar (76), Suryakant Mishra (76) and G Ramakrishnan (75) are among the Politburo members who have crossed or reached the age limit of 75 set by the party.
The 24th party congress of the CPI(M) began on April 2 and will end on Sunday.
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Bajpe: Police have arrested a youth for allegedly posting derogatory and defamatory content against the Bajpe police on social media.
The arrested accused has been identified as Abhishek M. (23), a resident of Katipalla, Surathkal.
According to the police, Abhishek posted a photograph of Bajpe Nisarga Hotel on his Instagram account mr_a_titude_22, alleging that accused persons in a murder case under the jurisdiction of the Bajpe police station were being treated “like royalty” by the police and were being served beef meals from the hotel every day. In his post, he further accused the police of colluding with criminals and misusing their authority, stating that public trust in the police was being betrayed.
Following which, the Bajpe police registered a case and arrested the accused.
Police records reveal that Abhishek is already facing multiple criminal cases. A case of murder, attempt to murder, assault and robbery has been registered against him at the Surathkal police station. At the same time, a robbery case has also been registered at the Kaup police station.
After his arrest, Abhishek was handed over to the custody of the CEN police for further investigation. He was later produced before a court, police said.
