In the midst of voting, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ticked off his senior party colleague, saying that Jayarajan should have been more careful and avoided meeting Javadekar.

The controversy

The row erupted with Sobha, who is the BJP candidate in Alappuzha, alleging that certain business groups were working against her after sensing her “popularity and chances to win the election”. On April 23, a self-styled power broker T G Nandakumar alleged in Delhi that Sobha had taken Rs 10 lakh from him in connection with a land deal, but never returned the money.

Back in Kerala the next day, Sobha told the media that Nandakumar had met her to discuss recruiting a prominent CPI(M) leader from Kannur for the BJP. Sobha described this CPI(M) leader as having the stature of CM Vijayan. “Once when I talked to Nandakumar about selling my land, he came with Rs 10 lakh, but I insisted on a bank transaction. He was not ready, so there was no deal,” she claimed.

Seizing on Sobha’s remarks, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and the party’s Kannur candidate, K Sudhakaran said that the CPI(M) leader who had held discussions with Javadekar was Jayarajan.

On the eve of polling, Sobha had also said, “The party has authorised me to hold discussions with members of other parties who express a desire to join the BJP. I had a meeting with Jayarajan’s son in Kochi.” She added: “Nandakumar thought he could pocket money by bringing the CPI(M) leader to the BJP. He was told that BJP does not pay money for bringing leaders from other parties.”

Nandakumar, who had been embroiled in several controversies in the state as a middleman over the last several years, said Jayarajan had held a meeting with Javadekar.

Jayarajan, who had earlier denied the meeting, admitted on Friday that he had met Javadekar in Thiruvananthapuram. “I met him at my son’s flat. Javadekar came to the flat realising that I was there. We did not discuss politics. I wanted to go for a meeting and before leaving the flat I told my son to offer tea to Javadekar. I did not inform the party about this meeting,’’ he said.

Disapproving of the meeting, CM Vijayan said, “Jayarajan should have been vigilant before getting in touch with such people… In the past also, Jayarajan had failed to be careful on such occasions. He should have avoided meeting with Javadekar in the presence of a person of suspicious character (Nandakumar).’’

Political fallout

The row came as a setback to the CPI(M) in the midst of the elections, blunting its campaign that the Congress allegedly has had a “soft Hindutva line” and that the principal Opposition was not steadfast in fighting the Sangh Parivar. To woo the minorities, which account for a substantial chunk of the voters in the state, the CPI(M) has been highlighting the exodus of Congress leaders to the BJP across the country. With Jayarajan under the shadow of suspicion, the CPI(M) is now finding itself at the receiving end on this score.

The controversy also gave ammunition to the Congress to allege that the CPI(M) had a deal with the BJP to scuttle the SNC Lavalin case, in which a CBI petition has been pending in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of the accused including Vijayan. Nandakumar had alleged that Javadekar had promised to “settle” the SNC Lavalin case in lieu of the Left support for the BJP in a few Lok Sabha seats in Kerala.

Rumblings in CPI(M)

The Jayarajan episode is likely to lead to a churning in the CPI(M) politics. The CPI(M) is expected to take action against Jayarajan, who had been involved in several controversies in the past. Before the party goes into the huddle to discuss the row, CM Vijayan’s censure has already signalled what might be in store for the LDF convener. The party is bracing to face a wave of allegations and attacks from its rivals, especially the Congress, over the controversy.

Key faces in the row

Sobha is the BJP’s most prominent woman leader in Kerala. She had been part of the state BJP leadership for the last one decade. She has also been a member of the BJP national executive committee.

In 2020, the BJP named Sobha the state party vice-president, which she felt was a “downgrade” from her earlier post of the general secretary. She had been upset with the party leadership for a while.

Jayarajan had once been known as a trusted aide of Vijayan. He had served as a minister in the previous Vijayan regime. He had landed in several rows in the past. Once as general manager of the CPI(M)’s newspaper Deshabhimani, he had accepted a Rs 2 crore bond from lottery king Santiago Martin for the daily, which the party leadership later made him return. While a minister in the LDF regime, he was forced to quit on charges of nepotism in government appointments. But, he later managed to return to the Cabinet.

Jayarajan had been sulking in the CPI(M) for a couple of years. After the death of Kodiyeri Balakrishan in 2022, he was a major aspirant to the state CPI(M) secretary’s post, which however went to his junior colleague M V Govindan. Last year, Jayarajan had faced criticism for keeping away from party functions.

When denied a seat to contest the Assembly elections in 2021, Jayarajan had announced his decision to quit politics, which he subsequently reversed. Last year, the operations of an Ayurvedic spa in Kannur, in which Jayarajan’s wife and son own shares, was handed over to a hospitality venture backed by Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s private equity firm. This, the Congress alleged, put a question mark on the Left’s commitment to fight the BJP.

In the initial phase of the campaigning for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Jayarajan had praised the BJP’s candidates, saying “The BJP will come second in many constituencies in Kerala, where the fight is between the CPI(M) and the BJP.” Later, the CPI(M) leadership said the contest would be between the CPI(M) and the Congress.