E.P. Jayarajan. Onmanorama/File photoThe fortunes of E.P. Jayarajan are perhaps a motley mix of ironies: successes, failures, communism and capitalism all go hand-in-hand for this man to frame his destiny.
The man who dabbled with the idea of quitting politics more than once was catapulted to the CPM central committee and also became a minister.
Jayarajan even went to the extent of urging the CPM's student wing, the Students Federation of India (SFI) to desist from strikes.
Even though he came under a cloud for his links with lottery king Santiago Martin and industrialist V.M. Radhakrishnan, he emerged victorious with the highest margin among LDF candidates in the assembly elections.
Ironically, the same Jayarajan, who as sports minister criticised Anju Bobby George for nepotism, now stands exposed for appointing people close to him to influential posts.
Surviving the MVR era
Jayarajan, who entered politics through KSF, became the founding president of the DYFI in 1980. When he felt that late M.V. Raghavan, who had the organization under his firm grip in Kannur then, was antagonistic to his growth, Jayarajan planned to quit politics and shift to the Gulf. The leaders could never patch up.
From 1995, Jayarajan was district secretary of the party in Kannur and it is believed that during his tenure, violence by the party reached its record high. Many activists of the BJP, the CPM and the Congress died during this time and many attempts were made on his life.
On April 12, 1995, he was shot at by hired assassins at Ongole in Andhra Pradesh while traveling in a train. He sustained bullet injuries to his head, but survived.
Once M.V. Raghavan was shown the door in 1986, new opportunities opened up before Jayarajan. He has been a member of the CPM state committee since 1982.
When it was alleged that his house in Keechery was a mansion, V.S. Achuthanandan supported him. However, when the Achuthanandan-Pinarayi rift became evident, Jayarajan sided with Pinarayi. He termed his relationship with Pinarayi as brotherly affection.
Courting rows
Jayarajan always courted controversies. His idea for a water theme park in Parassinikadavu was backed by his party. Similarly, when issues of a mangrove forest in Valapattanam became a controversy, Jayarajan took the side of the party.
He called on SFI to end strikes and added that the time of austerities were over in the party. He even backed the use of chicken with liquor.
While he was general manager of the party mouthpiece, Jayarajan facilitated a Rs 2-crore bond from Santiago Martin, the controversial lottery king. During a party plenum in Palakkad, meant to purify the party from the influences of the rich, the paper carried an ad of industrialist V.M. Radhakrishnan, which again courted controversy.
The Kannur lobby
While the Kannur lobby had always backed him, he was done in by the same lobby this time. The party has not been able to discipline the leader for his ways that kept a close association with the well-to-do. With his exit as minister, nobody feels that his influence is on the wane. The Jayarajan effect is here to stay within the CPM, regardless of the course of action the vigilance probe against him will take.
