CPI(M) veteran EP Jayarajan's alleged plan to join BJP triggered shock waves in the ruling Left in Kerala
The accusations levelled by political opponents about senior CPI(M) leader EP Jayarajan's alleged plan to join the BJP continued to trigger shock waves in the ruling Left in Kerala today, the day of Lok Sabha polls.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan cautioned his party colleague to be vigilant in his associations.
"If Lord Shiva joins a sinner, Shiva will also become a sinner," Mr Vijayan said using a vernacular saying indirectly cautioning Mr Jayarajan, who is also the convenor of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF).
The Chief Minister's statement came a day after BJP's firebrand leader Sobha Surendran fired a salvo at CPI(M) by revealing the alleged bid made to take Mr Jayarajan into the BJP fold.
Two days ago Shobha Surendran had alleged that a middleman had tried to help a top CPI(M) leader who wanted to join the BJP and on Thursday, she claimed that the leader was EP Jayarajan.
While taking to reporters in Kannur, the chief minister said there are certain people in our country who wake up every day thinking about whom to cheat.
Without naming TG Nandakumar, who had allegedly played the role of a middleman between the BJP and Mr Jayarajan, he further said any friendship or acquaintance with such people should be generally avoided.
Mr Vijayan said the experience was that Mr Jayarajan, who always maintains a good relationship with everyone, was usually not vigilant in such matters.
That's how a person who has the most dubious background in the state came as a witness to all these developments, he said without directly mentioning about Nandakumar.
The Left veteran said he clearly knows the connection of the particular person with the Lavlin case, which he has been fighting for years at the Supreme Court.
Friendship or even an acquaintance with such people was unacceptable, he added.
Responding to media reports that Mr Jayarajan had admitted to meeting BJP leader Prakash Javadekar, Vijayan said there was nothing wrong with such meetings.
He said even he himself had talked to Mr Javadekar recently ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
Hailing Mr Jayarajan's decades-long political journey, the CM said he faced several turbulences in his life as a communist leader that have been an encouragement to all left workers.
The ongoing row was a political attack targeting not only Jayarajan but also the CPI(M) and LDF, he said.
Mr Vijayan also expressed hope that the people of the state won't believe such propaganda.
Replying to a question about the alleged meeting of Mr Jayarajan with Mr Javadekar, CPI (M) state secretary MV Govindan said people can meet anyone.
These are just means to attack the Left and a 'political conspiracy' against the Marxist party, he told reporters in Kannur.
"As politicians, we meet numerous people. Recently, I met MM Hassan and BJP leader Krishnadas. We were there for a television debate. We have a friendship, but we have strong political differences. It's not the personal relationship but the politics that matter," he said.
To a query about the power broker, Govindan said he never reacted to the statements of the middleman as they were not needed.
"There is no need to react to such frauds. But he claimed certain things, and they should be probed. I said he cannot be trusted, but all the matters he claimed should be investigated," Mr Govindan added.
Meanwhile, KPCC Chief K Sudhakaran continued to criticise Jayarajan and CPI (M) over the matter and asked if a person would go and visit anyone without any relation.
"I don't care whether Jayarajan goes to the BJP or not. We are not worried about his political future. There was some sort of conspiracy inside that party to corner Jayarajan. That's why he was staying away," Mr Sudhakaran added.
Asked about Chief Minister's statements regarding the row, senior BJP leader and NDA candidate Shobha Surendran alleged that it was Vijayan who always maintained relationships with people with dubious backgrounds.
She also accused Vijayan of causing the 'degradation' of the Communist party in the state.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, VD Satheesan questioned CM Vijayan's statement that there was nothing wrong in the meeting between Jayarajan and Javadekar.
"That means, Mr Jayarajan had visited Javadekar with the permission of the Chief Minister. What did the LDF Convenor have to talk to the BJP state in-charge?" Satheesan asked while talking to media in Paravur.
Noting that the CM admitted that he himself had met Mr Javadekar several times, the LoP sought to know for what reason that he met the BJP leader who is not a union minister now.
"Even before the election, the UDF has talked about the BJP-CPI(M) nexus. The events that have taken place now underlines the words of the opposition," he said.
Mr Satheesan further alleged that the first accused in the matter is CM Vijayan who is now trying to escape after rejecting his co-accused-Jayarajan.
KPCC chief K Sudhakaran and ruling LDF Convenor EP Jayarajan on Thursday accused each other of planning to join the BJP.
While Mr Sudhakaran alleged that the BJP leaders held parleys with Jayarajan to bring him into the party fold, the senior CPI(M) leader claimed that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president had gone to Chennai to join the BJP.
The senior politicians traded charges against each other in the wake of allegations levelled by BJP leader Shobha Surendran in this regards a few days ago.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)