P Jayarajan entry into secretariat anybody's guess

KANNUR: The CPM state committee flaying Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan has exposed cracks within the strong Kannur lobby. Now Mr Jayarajan is on one side, and all other prominent leaders are on the other.  "He enjoys massive support among cadres," said an LDF leader here. "However, not only bigwigs but even district-level leaders are not with him. He stands isolated among leaders." The impact of the criticism at the state committee on Mr Jayarajan's future in the party can be seen in the coming days as party conferences are on.

"He could be retained as district secretary. But we should wait and watch if his promotion to state secretariat would be possible," said the leader.  Though at present there are five nominees from the district in the state secretariat, a vacancy exists due to the demise of V.V. Dakshinamoorthy. Sources indicate that Mr Jayarajan's increasing popularity among grassroots workers had not gone down well with other prominent leaders.

"His initiatives such as palliative care, Yoga classes and cultural rallies on Sri Krishna Janmashtami day, wooing leaders from BJP and IUML had given a good political mileage for the party. They could have triggered jealousy in others," observed a source.  Many CPM observers suspect the intention behind 'promoting individualistic style' charges against him.  "If that was the case, does the widely used Iratta Chankan acronym for Pinarayi Vijayan falls in the same category?" asks a Left academic requesting anonymity.