ALAPPUZHA: Property dispute may have had a role to play in the JSS’ decision to drop merger with the CPM, party sources suggest. The party owns a seven-cent plot at the Pattam in Thiruvananthapuram and a four-cent plot with a building near the KSRTC bus station here. A party state committee member said that the land was registered in party chief K R Gowri’s name and no legal merger was likely to occur in the merger.
If the JSS merges with the CPM, the Rajanbabu faction of the party could become the official JSS and the court might deliver its judgement in their favour. That may have been the reason behind the decision to drop the merger, the committee member said.
Rajanbabu said, “As per the law, if a party faction merges with another party, the ownership of party offices and property will be transferred to the existing faction. That could have spurred the decision to abandon the merger. At the same time, the CPM has arranged a small function to welcome Gowriamma into the party. National leaders will not participate in the function. It was decided to arrange a low-key function after the CPM realised that only very few party workers supported the merger.”
After Gowri declared her decision to merge her party with the CPM, the Rajanbabu faction came out demanding ownership of properties. Two weeks ago, a JSS faction, led by Rajan Babu and K K Shajan, reached the office and tried to wrest control of it. A complaint was duly lodged, and the Thiruvananthapuram RDO issued notices to Gowri and Rajanbabu to present documents showing the ownership of property. The JSS chief later hit out at Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, alleging that there was a conspiracy behind the notice. “If the minister is trying to seize ownership from me and the JSS, I will stage an indefinite sathyagraha in front of his house,” she said.