THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior CPM leader E P Jayarajan, who put the party in a spot on the day of the Lok Sabha election, will continue as LDF convenor for the time being. In what appears to be an obvious cover-up, the state CPM on Monday gave a clean chit to Jayarajan who admitted to meeting BJP national leader Prakash Javadekar in the presence of controversial middleman T G Nandakumar. A final decision on action against the party veteran will be taken by the CPM Central Committee.
Noticeably, the CPM also decided to launch a counter campaign on the whole issue, projecting it as an example of party leaders’ ideological capacity to withstand attempts by the BJP to woo them over.
The party secretariat that met on Monday decided to back Jayarajan’s claims that a section of media along with BJP leader Sobha Surendran and Congress state chief K Sudhakaran hatched a conspiracy against him.
At the secretariat meeting, EP presented his version of the story. Following this, the secretariat decided not to take any action, but directed him to stay away from shady characters. The CPM also directed EP to initiate legal action against Sobha. Later speaking to the media, EP denied allegations raised by Sobha that he went to Delhi to join the BJP.
The secretariat witnessed severe criticism against EP for his links with ‘shady characters'. Though the state secretariat cannot recommend disciplinary action against EP who’s a central committee (CC) member, the matter will come up for discussions before the state committee. After deliberation in the state committee, the state unit will report the same to the CC. A final decision would be taken at the CC meeting in this regard.
CPM rejects reports of EP’s BJP bid
The state CPM also decided to start counter campaign on the issue to show how party leaders withstand BJP’s attempts to woo them. “Jayarajan had some issues with the party, and opponents have been trying to cash in on the same for a long time,” a secretariat member told TNIE.
“Javadekar visiting him with the help of T G Nandakumar was part of the BJP’s attempt to lure him. However, he withstood such attempts. He did not join the BJP. That is important now,” he said.
After the secretariat, CPM state secretary M V Govindan justified EP. He told the media that EP had met Javadekar about one year ago and there was nothing wrong in not reporting it to the leadership.
“Concerted efforts are being made against Jayarajan by propagating fake news with an anti-Communist view. The secretariat has asked him to put an end to links with controversial characters. He has told the meeting that he has no links with T G Nandakumar anymore,” he said.
Govindan also rejected reports that EP tried to join the BJP.
“EP will continue as LDF convenor. It is not right to say that one should not speak to a leader of an opposition party,” he said. Asked whether Sobha Surendran had held any talks with the CPM, Govindan jokingly said she was too big a leader for the CPM to accommodate.
