THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPM leadership has removed veteran leader E P Jayarajan as LDF convener unceremoniously amid the political row over his meeting with BJP leaders. Jayarajan, the second-most senior leader in the state party after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and once his right hand, has been in a cold relationship with the party leadership for sometime now.
The party state committee meeting on Saturday approved the state secretariat’s proposal to remove the central committee member as the Left front convener. CPM state secretariat member T P Ramakrishnan will be the new LDF convener. This comes as the culmination of a silent turf war within the party between Jayarajan and the leadership after M V Govindan was elected state secretary.
Jayarajan, who attended the state secretariat meeting on Friday, chose to skip the state committee meeting on Saturday. In the secretariat meeting on Friday, the leadership conveyed to Jayarajan the decision to remove him from the post.
In the state committee meeting, Govindan reported that the secretariat has proposed the removal of Jayarajan from the post, but he did not explain the reasons behind the decision. According to the party sources, no other names were discussed for the LDF convener post. Even though senior leader A K Balan’s name was doing the rounds, the leadership chose former minister Ramakrishnan, a soft-spoken and non-controversial leader. He was the CPM Kozhikode district secretary when T P Chandrasekharan was hacked to death in 2012.
TNIE had earlier reported that disciplinary action will be taken against Jayarajan for his controversial meeting with BJP leader Prakash Javadekar and statements during the Lok Sabha elections. BJP leader Sobha Surendran’s revelation that Jayarajan had gone to New Delhi to meet BJP national leaders had created quite a furore during the LS poll campaign.
The Kannur leader who once nurtured hopes of becoming the party state chief after Pinarayi, towards the end of Kodiyeri’s tenure, had finally settled for the LDF convener’s post. He has now been forced out of that position too.
Jayarajan’s links with the Vaideham ayurveda resort, in which his wife and son had reportedly invested majorly, and its subsequent transfer to BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar-owned business entity had also landed the CPM in trouble. Jayarajan’s alleged closeness to middleman T G Nandakumar too drew criticism within the party.
‘Jayarajan’s fall was inevitable’
Finding himself isolated within the party, Jayarajan has been keeping away from organisational chores. In spite of being a party secretariat member, tasked with working from the party state headquarters, Jayarajan has remained aloof for a long period. The veteran leader also chose to give the launch of the political march by M V Govindan, after being elected as state secretary, a miss. While talking to the media at AKG centre, Govindan explained that the decision was taken after considering Jayarajan’s limitations in organisational work and the statements made at the time of the Lok Sabha polls. “The party took the decision not just because of Jayarajan’s meeting with Javadekar. His statements during election time were also taken into consideration,” he said.
Meanwhile sources said Jayarajan’s fall was inevitable. “After Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticised EP for his links with controversial individuals like Nandakumar, organisational action against him was certain,” a senior leader told TNIE.
Jayarajan had once played a key role in putting an end to factionalism in the party. He chose not to respond to the media on Saturday.
WILL ABIDE BY PARTY’S DECISION: RAMAKRISHNAN
Kozhikode: “Will abide by the party’s decision,” says former minister and senior CPM leader T P Ramakrishnan on his new role as LDF convener. Speaking at Perambra on Saturday, Ramakrishnan highlighted his long-standing association with the CPM since 1968 and emphasised his unwavering commitment to the party’s guidelines.
