After his admission that he had met with BJP’s Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar in the presence of controversial middleman T G Nandakumar, the CPM leadership in Kerala has decided to discuss the LDF convenor E P Jayarajan’s issue at its secretariat on Monday, 29 April.
The allegation against Jayarajan is that he met BJP leaders and discussed with them about joining the BJP.
Jayarajan’s statement on the polling day, on Friday, that he had met the BJP’s Kerala prabhari came as a rude jolt to the CPI-M, a party that has been branding the Congress as the recruiting ground for the BJP throughout the election campaign.
The state and Central leaderships of the CPI-M are unhappy with the open admission of Jayarajan to the secret meeting on the polling day.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his displeasure over the turn of events. He said there was a lack of discretion on the part of Jayarajan.
“Everyone knows the nature of Jayarajan, who does not exercise discretion while establishing friendship. If Lord Shiva joins hands with a sinner, Shiva himself will become a sinner,” he said, quoting an adage.
At the party secretariat meeting on Monday, Jayarajan is expected to explain the controversy. As of now, it is not clear whether the state secretariat would recommend disciplinary action against Jayarajan or not. In case disciplinary action is recommended, the central committee of the party might decide to publicly reprimand the senior leader or might even ask him to step down from the post of LDF convenor.
Many senior CPI-M leaders have expressed disappointment over the timing of Jayarajan’s confirmation about his meeting with the BJP leader.
Party’s central committee member and former state finance minister Thomas Isaac said the issue would be discussed in the respective party forum. “Jayarajan should not have gone to a place just because he got an invite from someone. I will express my opinion in the party forum,” he added.
KPCC president Sudhakaran stirred a storm on Thursday by accusing Jayarajan of secretly plotting to defect to the BJP by opening a secret communication channel with the saffron party’s leadership.
The CPI-M suddenly found itself in a quandary after BJP leader Sobha Surendran endorsed K Sudhakaran’s accusation. She revealed that Jayarajan held discussions with her and other party leaders on joining the BJP. Negotiations on his entry into the BJP had been almost completed, she said and added that Chief Minister Vijayan knows why Jayarajan stopped from joining the saffron party.
She said Jayarajan withdrew from the move following threats from the CPM leadership in Kerala.
CPI-M’s stand was that today’s Congress is tomorrow’s BJP. Now that their senior leader has been in talks with the BJP leaders the Left party, it is abound to be an embarrassment.
The CPI-M is also apprehensive about more such revelations coming out in the open in the coming days.