KANNUR: Even before his unceremonious exit from the state Cabinet has receded from public consciousness, CPM leader E P Jayarajan found himself in the middle of yet another row, over his alleged demand for exquisite teak wood free of cost for renovation of a temple near his residence at Irinavu here. And the cost of the wood, which the CPM stalwart allegedly sought as a freebie, has been put at a whopping `24 crore.
According to sources, the Forest Department had received a letter from Jayarajan, who was the then Industries Minister seeking wood for the temple. His family members are reportedly the temple committee trustees.
In the missive addressed to Forest Minister K Raju, Jayarajan sought the wood for the Irinavau Chuzhali Bhagavathi Temple. And it was pointed out in the letter that the temple did not have enough resources and hence listed under the D category of Devaswom Board. Since the temple had been cash strapped, Jayarajan said he was forwarding the request for 1,200 cubic metre of wood free of cost to the temple.
The letter which was received in October first week was forwarded to the Kannavam Forest Office, where teak wood is abundant. Sources said the letter did not mention any specific wood, but since the letter was forwarded to the Kannavam Forest Office, under which there was a teak plantation it had been assumed that the temple trust was on the lookout for teak wood. However, the request was turned down citing various reasons.
When contacted DFO P Sunil denied having received any letter from the minister or from the temple authorities. However, another forest official here said that a letter from the minister had indeed been received and the same was forwarded by the Forest Department.
Seeks to clear air
Jayarajan told Express, “In the past while I was the MLA, the Forest Department on the basis of a special request had sanctioned wood for making pillar for Cherukunnu Temple. Similarly Karivetti wood was also sanctioned for making an idol of Pazhassi Raja which is going to be installed now.”
The CPM leader alleged that there was a concerted move to create controversies to besmirch his name. He also denied that he had written a letter seeking wood for the temple and pointed out that it was not his ancestral temple. “When the temple committee approached me with the request for renovation, I issued a covering letter and forwarded their request to the Forest Minister asking him to look into their application. I never demanded any favours from the minister,” he said.
MDB stand
Sajjeev Maroli, president, Malabar Devaswom Board, too confirmed that the temple had meagre resources and hence was listed under the D category.