 Podgorny 's position was constantly threatened by Brezhnev and his allies . In an article in Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta from February 1965 , the newspaper criticised the Kharkiv Party organisation which Podgorny had previously headed , but also its management of the economy . By indirectly criticising Podgorny , the article raised doubts about his qualifications as a leading member of the Soviet leadership . Podgorny launched a counterattack in his 1965 speech in Baku , Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic , where he criticised the Soviet leadership 's heavy industrial policy . This , as it turned out , would be a move he would regret for life . Instead of offending just Brezhnev and Shelepin , he offended the whole conservative wing of the leadership . To make matters even worse for Podgorny , Mikhail Suslov , who had kept outside of the conflict , sided with Brezhnev , and called his views " revisionist " . Later in 1965 , Podgorny lost his seat in the Secretariat , and on 9 December 1965 he replaced Mikoyan as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet . His removal from the Secretariat also signalled the end of his wish to assume the First Secretaryship . 
