CPI(M) Reels from Internal Conflict as EP Jayarajan Meets BJP Leader, Meeting Called on Monday

In the midst of a major controversy surrounding the convenor of the ruling Left Democratic Front, EP Jayarajan connecting with a BJP leader recently, a meeting of the CPI(M) Kerala secretariat has been scheduled for Monday.

The CPI(M) was caught on the back foot after Jayarajan, on Friday soon after casting his vote admitted that he and senior BJP leader and incharge of Kerala, Prakash Javadekar had met.

According to sources, the national leadership of the CPI(M) is peeved and when read together with the dressing down that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan gave to Jayarajan on Friday, Monday’s meeting is crucial for the party as well as for its battle-scarred veteran.

This news was first out last week when the BJP candidate at Alappuzha Sobha Surendran said that TG Nandakumar, a known power broker who moves in the political circles of Delhi and Kerala, had met her to discuss the entry of a very senior leader with a status equivalent to CM Vijayan, into the BJP. But she did not name the leader.

Incidentally it was Jayarajan’s arch political rival, also the sitting Kannur Congress MP who is seeking re-election and state Congress President, K Sudhakaran who broke the news that the ‘tall’ leader seeking entry into the BJP was Jayarajan.

A political analyst on condition of anonymity said it’s a known fact that Jayarajan is unhappy over MV Govindan being made the party Secretary last year following the demise of then Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.


“Jayarajan’s displeasure increased further when he was not considered for the politburo of the party. He was already miffed over not being given a renomination for the 2021 Assembly polls when he was the state industries minister in the first Vijayan government (2016-21).

“The party viewed his indiscipline in the past, when he kept away from crucial events, seriously. Now, since he is a central committee member, his fate will be decided in Delhi,” said the analyst.

So all eyes are on the forthcoming Monday meeting of the state secretariat, of which he is also a member. The outcome of the meeting will be reported to the central committee and until they decide, Jayarajan and the party will be on tenterhooks.- IANS