Kerala CPI(M) State secretariat backs E.P. Jayarajan’s claim that his ‘autobiography’ is forgery and political hit job

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan says Jayarajan is yet to complete his memoir and has not contracted any publisher to print it

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] has thrown its weight behind former Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener E.P. Jayarajan’s contention that his purported “autobiography” was a forgery and a political hit job to wrongfoot the ruling front in Kerala on the day of the byelections in Chelakkara Assembly constituency and Wayanad Lok Sabha seat. 

CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said the party’s State secretariat met in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday (November 15, 2024) and took Mr. Jayarajan’s claim at face value.

Moreover, he said, Mr. Jayarajan has petitioned the State Police Chief to investigate the “conspiracy” behind the alleged attempt to target him and the LDF. 

Mr. Govindan said Mr. Jayarajan had yet to complete his memoir and had not contracted any publisher to print it.

The controversial media report that has since roiled Kerala politics had alleged that Mr. Jayarajan’s purported autobiography was critical of the second Pinarayi Vijayan government.

It also claimed that Mr. Jayarajan had slammed the CPI(M)‘s decision to field expelled Congress leader P. Sarin as the LDF’s Independent candidate for the Assembly bypoll in Palakkad.

The report suggested that the alleged “autobiography” portrayed CPI(M) ministers as weak and accused the party of losing its moorings in the LDF government’s second consecutive term.

The reports cited a publisher as their source. The publisher seemed to add to the ambiguity surrounding Mr. Jayarajan’s so-called autobiography by postponing the release date.

Congress charges

The Congress seized upon the controversy to portray the CPI(M) as a faction-ridden divided house on the byelection day. It alleged that the party had “arm-twisted” Mr. Jayarajan into campaigning for Mr. Sarin in Palakkad.

Mr. Govindan retorted that Mr. Jayarajan was “not a child to be chaperoned around.”

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran said the timing of the release of Mr. Jayarajan’s “reminiscences” smacked of a personal payback to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for divesting the latter of his post as LDF convener.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan accused Mr. Vijayan of “coercing’ the publisher into cancelling the book’s printing to save face. 

It also did not help Mr. Jayarajan that his 2024 Lok Sabha elections day disclosure that he parleyed with Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala in-charge, Prakash Javadekar, privately at his son’s house in the presence of a self-styled political powerbroker.

Mr. Jayarajan’s “inopportune” admission had drawn censure from Mr. Vijayan and allegedly cost him the LDF convener’s post.

Published - November 15, 2024 04:47 pm IST