Jayarajan will turn up at jatha, says CPI(M) Kerala secretary Govindan

The CPI(M) leader pointed out that though Mr. Jayarajan was not part of the ‘jatha’ team, he can attend it at any time

E.P. Jayarajan, Left Democratic Front convener in Kerala, will attend the Janakeeya Prathirodha Jatha being undertaken by the CPI(M) in the State in coming days, party State secretary M.V. Govindan has said.

Responding to questions about Mr. Jayarajan’s absence from the event till now, he told the media here on Saturday that the jatha would culminate only on March 18. “There is ample time. You wait till then,” Mr. Govindan said. The CPI(M) leader pointed out that though Mr. Jayarajan was not part of the ‘ jatha’ team, he can attend it at any time. Asked about Mr. Jayarajan’s reported remarks that there had been a political conspiracy behind the news reports against him, Mr. Govindan said the media could be behind such a move.

Mr. Govindan alleged that efforts were being made to “saffronise” the National Institute of Technology-Calicut (NIT-C). “The NIT-C has now signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh-controlled Mahatma Gandhi College of Communication, Kozhikode. These are at the behest of V. Muraleedharan, Union Minister of State for External Affairs,” he said. Though the director and the deans there had not been allowing campus politics, they were found to have been actively participating in events organised by outfits such as the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, he added.

Mr. Govindan claimed that Congress leaders such as Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan and Adoor Prakash, MP, were now being linked to the alleged embezzlement of money from the Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund. Congress leaders were found to be running agencies and their mobile phones were being given along with applications by beneficiaries. He said that the media reports, which initially termed it as a misuse of power by those in the CPI(M), had been proven wrong now.