The purported rift in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leadership in the district may be real or perceived. But the tremor of protests in the aftermath of the suicide of NRI investor Sajan Parayil here on June 18 has brought to the fore what can be construed as underlying fissures within the party administration.
At the centre of the debate whether or not the suicide of Sajan was linked with the alleged rift in the CPI(M) leadership in the district is senior CPI(M) leader P. Jayarajan, who was the party’s district secretary till March 11 when he was replaced by M.V. Jayarajan following his candidature for the Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency.
The allegation of Sajan’s family that he ended his life following the denial of permit for his multi-crore Partha Convention Centre at Bakkalam here by the Anthoor municipal authorities allegedly at the behest of municipal chairperson P.K. Shyamala, wife of party leader M.V. Govindan, was not attenuated by Mr. Jayarajan.
Differing stance
At a public meeting at Mangattuparamba on June 22, he said there was fault on the part of Ms. Shyamala in controlling municipal officials -- an observation not in harmony with the district party secretary’s speech giving clean chit to the municipal chairperson. The State leadership has also defended Ms. Shyamala. This has triggered speculation that the rift in the CPI(M) centred around Mr. Jayarajan, who is allegedly charting his own course in the district.
It seems this is not acceptable to the party leadership in the State, especially Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, both hailing from the district.
The CPI(M) State committee had censured him in November 2017 for his alleged ‘self-glorification’ over a music album made by a party-controlled local art group.
The Chief Minister’s comment in the Assembly on June 24 in his reply to the notice for an adjournment motion is also seen as a veiled reference to the censure. He said the CPI(M) had in the past survived attempts to lionise one leader and demonise another.
Facebook post
Against this backdrop, Mr. Jayarajan’s Facebook post of June 24 evening urges his supporters to change names of social media groups named after ‘PJ’ (which is initials of his name) on the ground that they propagate views different from the party’s stand.
He wrote: “For the offence committed by children, the party leader and his party continue to be attacked. Moreover, there are efforts in social media to place party leaders on different rungs by referring to jobs of their children. As part of this, the photos of my son carrying bricks on one occasion and another son working in a hotel, which are posted [on social media] by their friends for fun, are being used to propagate that children of leaders are on different rungs.”
Mr. Jayarajan’s post drew over a thousand comments at the last count. Many of them saw in it a veiled disclosure of fissures in the party here.
