Kerala CPM infighting: P Jayarajan ups ante, keeps debate on EP Jayarajan alive

P Jayarajan’s resolve came a day after media reports claimed that he had sought a probe into the financial dealings of party’s central committee member and Left Democratic Front convener E P Jayarajan. Both Jayarajans hail from Kannur district of Kerala.

It is learnt that P Jayarajan was referring to E P Jayarajan’s alleged link to an ayurvedic resort, constructed in Kannur in 2014, in which his family members have direct stakes. The resort has come up in Morazha village, the native place of CPI(M) state secretary and Taliparamba legislator M V Govindan.

P Jayarajan had reportedly raised the issue in the meeting of the party state committee held on Wednesday and Thursday.

Govindan told the media after the meeting that there were “wrong tendencies in the party, which would not be tolerated”. “If there are unacceptable tendencies, the party would intervene and correct it. Rectification is a continuing process,’’ he said.

P Jayarajan on Saturday had broadly denied media reports on his allegations against the LDF convener. “E P Jayarajan is a prominent leader. That he is running a resort has not come to my notice. There would be intra-party struggle in CPI(M) against wrong tendencies… The committee has not met to raise any personal allegations. We cannot share any details of the discussion in the committee with the media,” he said.

CPI(M) leaders, including party media, have remained tight-lipped about the allegations. E P Jayarajan, too, has not responded to the media reports on the allegations. His social media posts on Sunday were mostly confined to customary Christmas greetings.

Both Jayarajans are powerful leaders in the CPI(M) and both got side-lined in the party over different reasons.

E P Jayarajan had been the second-in command in the previous LDF government led by Pinarayi Vijayan. In 2021, he was denied ticket from Mattannur Assembly seat by the party, which decided not to field any legislator who had completed two consecutive terms. Stung by the decision, E P Jayarajan announced that he was quitting electoral politics. The announcement left the party leadership red-faced as it was against the Communist style of functioning.

After M V Govindan, another central committee member became party state secretary in the wake of the death of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, E P Jayarajan has been keeping away from active political life on health grounds. Govindan is junior to E P Jayarajan in the party.

On the other hand, P Jayarajan, arguably one of the most popular CPI(M) leaders in Kannur, found himself on the wrong side of the party bosses after Vijayan assumed office in 2016.

Popular among the party’s rank and file, he had, in fact, achieved near cult status among the cadre in the northern districts of Kerala, where the CPI(M) had been involved in violent political attacks. He had often faced the allegation of being the darling of lumpen elements in the party who indulged in violence. After Vijayan became the Chief Minister in 2016, he was not keen on promoting “P Jayarajan brand of politics”.

P Jayarajan, who was earlier CPI(M)’s Kannur district secretary, had been fielded as a party candidate in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. He lost the polls and was not reinstated as party district secretary, unlike other district secretaries who had contested but lost. Within the party organisation, Jayarajan is still a state committee member. Recently, he was made the vice-chairman of Khadi Board.