EP Jayarajan (file) | Photo credit: S. GOPAKUMAR
Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor EP Jayarajan on Saturday (August 31, 2024) skipped the important State Committee meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Thiruvananthapuram, sparking speculation that there may be a change at the top level of the decision. front.
Mr. Jayarajan had attended the CPI(M) secretariat meeting on Friday. It is not clear whether the meeting decided Mr. Jayarajan’s continuation in the top job. CPI(M) State Secretary MV Govindan is scheduled to hold a press conference at 3.30 pm on Saturday.
Meanwhile, politicians are busy speculating who will succeed Mr. Jayarajan. The media, citing unnamed sources, assumed the names of at least two senior CPI(M) leaders.
Criticism
Mr. Jayarajan was heavily criticized by the CPI(M) for confirming, in an ill-timed and perhaps impolite manner on the day of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, that he had a tete-a-tete with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP Leader) Prakash Javadekar at home son in 2023.
The statement seems to fit the Congress campaign narrative that the BJP and the CPI(M) are in Kerala and the unholy relationship will benefit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), at least in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency.
The CPI(M) felt that the statement was politically damaging. The sudden admission threatens to create ideological and ethical parity between party leaders and Congress leaders, including Padmaja Venugopal, who switched allegiance to the BJP during the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala.
Govindan gave a sign
On Friday, when asked whether Mr. Jayarajan was the subject of an internal party inquiry, Mr. Govindan replied cryptically: “There is no need for an inquiry. Everything is clear. The CPI(M) feels that the party leadership cannot be cautious.
Jayarajan’s reaction
Since then, Mr. Jayarajan has not communicated. When met by a television reporter outside his house at Keecheri in Kannur on Saturday morning, he said, “I will call you if I have something to say.”
Notably, after casting his Lok Sabha election vote in Kannur, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said clearly that Mr. Jayarajan had lost his guard by allowing “dubious middlemen who only make money by hook or by crook” to initiate meetings with Mr. Javadekar. He said there was “nothing wrong” when Mr. Jayarajan met BJP politicians. Mr. Vijayan said his “candor and sadness” often put Mr. Jayarajan on the spot.
“Those who constantly rub shoulders with criminals risk being judged by association and optics. Those people should ideally be kept at bay,” he said. Mr. Vijayan said that he had learned about the ways of “agents” and kept studying diligently.
AKG Center meeting
In Thiruvananthapuram, top CPI(M) leaders, including members of the political bureau, entered the AKG Center to attend an important state committee meeting ahead of the party’s State conference in Kollam in 2025. Mr. Jayarajan was conspicuously absent.
Controversy
Mr. Jayarajan is no stranger to controversy. In 2016, he resigned as Industries Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government over allegations of nepotism in appointments. During the Lok Sabha campaign, the Congress sought to undermine the LDF by accusing Mr. Jayarajan’s family of owning an Ayurveda resort in Kannur with a business group allied with former Union Minister and BJP’s Thiruvananthapuram candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. . Both the leaders denied the Congress’ allegations.
attitude of UDF
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan said the CPI(M) could not absolve itself of the guilt of attacking its “clandestine symbiotic association” with the BJP away from the public eye by blaming Mr. Jayarajan.
He said the “media drama” of Mr. Jayarajan’s absence from the party’s state committee meeting was providing the CPI(M) with bait to stir up public attention that he would disown the party’s legislator and actor M. Mukesh, who is facing serious charges in the matter. sexual exploitation and abuse.
‘Palace Coup’
Congress leader Cherian Philip said Mr Jayarajan had joined party veterans who were ousted in the CPI(M)’s “palace coup”.
In a statement, Mr. Philip noted that party supporters MV Raghavan and KR Gouri have been in a similar situation. He explained that Mr. Jayarajan took the bullet for the CPI(M).
Mr. Philip said Mr. Jayarajan was second only to Pinarayi Vijayan in seniority. The decision of the CPI(M) to pass Mr. Jayarajan for the post of CPI(M) secretary has deeply hurt the LDF convenors. Mr. Jayarajan saw his juniors Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, M. Vijayaraghavan and MV Govindan appointed to the post. The CPI(M) appointed several leaders in its political bureau, including MA Baby, Mr. Jayarajan’s junior, he added.
Mr. Philip, who has been a traveling companion of the CPI(M) for many years and works in the office at the AKG Centre, said Mr. Jayarajan has a credible field to be consistently edged out for the top post in the CPI(M).
