Kannur CPI-M caught in a bind

Thiruvananthapuram, July 2 (IANS) Affairs of the Kannur unit of the CPI-M on account of the presence of the topmost party leaders, are presently caught in a bind with things not appearing that rosy.

Among those who hail from the district, billed as the biggest unit in the country, include Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, State Secretary M.V. Govindan, Left Convenor E.P. Jayarajan -- all these three hold posts which are the most powerful ones in the ruling Left alliance.

Top-notch leaders including district secretary M.V. Jayarajan and former legislator P. Jayarajan, considered to be the most popular at the grassroots, also hail from Kannur.

Trouble started when Govindan was brought in as the new state secretary soon after the incumbent secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan passed away.

E.P. Jayarajan though senior to Govindan in the party was overlooked not just for the post of secretary, but also for the politburo.

He expressed his ire by keeping himself out of the state-wide yatra of Govindan. After much cajoling, he joined the yatra, when it had covered almost half of the distance.

The business interest of his wife and son, who hold considerable stakes at a plush Ayurveda resort, had raised eyebrows and later it surfaced that the resort was taken over for its day-to-day running by the company of former BJP Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

Yet another incident which caused huge damage to the party was on the Lok Sabha polling day he revealed that BJP national leader Prakash Javadekar had come and met him at his son’s apartment here. The revelation gave ammo to the Congress which alleged that there is a secret pact between the BJP and the CPI-M in Kerala.

M.V. Jayarajan was brought in to stop K. Sudhakaran -- the state Congress president -- from retaining his Lok Sabha seat from Kannur, but he lost by a massive margin of over one lakh votes.

Soon after the drubbing M.V. Jayarajan suffered, Manu Thomas, a popular now ousted youth party leader, pointed fingers at P. Jayarajan and his son Jain Raj who Thomas alleged was the coordinator of the business of gold which is being smuggled.

Though this issue surfaced at its district party meeting last week, the matter was left to the party state committee to look into it.

The growth of the BJP, especially in areas considered as CPI-M party villages in Kannur, has come as the biggest shocker for the CPI-M. This was evident as the party analysed the massive drubbing that M.V. Jayarajan suffered.

The party has been rattled as M.V. Jayarajan was able to get a minuscule majority in the constituencies of Vijayan, sitting party legislator K.K. Shailaja, as compared to what these leaders got in the 2021 assembly polls.

Another cause of concern is, at the Kannur district party meeting to analyse the defeat of M.V. Jayarajan, the conduct of Vijayan and his style of governance came under scrutiny which indicates that there is something which is not right within the party, especially among the top-notch party leaders from Kannur.

Even though Govindan has made it clear that a serious introspection will be done, it remains to be seen how the party will be able to contain the big fat egos of these leaders.

Meanwhile, reports have also surfaced, that more fireworks can be expected as Thomas who has been now ousted from the party, might spill more information about some of these leaders.