Opinion | Kerala: Pinarayi Vijayan May Have A 'Trojan Horse' In His Ranks

A week is a long time in politics, and the last few days in Kerala have proven that yet again. August 31 saw the dramatic removal of Kannur strongman E.P. Jayarajan from his exalted position as the convener of the Left Front. Although many saw that coming in light of the Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) performance in the Lok Sabha election - Jayarajan faced heavy criticism for it - the timing took everyone by surprise.

Sources within the party revealed that it couldn't wait any longer as the CPI(M) was beginning its triennial cycle of branch, local, area and district committee meetings in the run-up to the state conference in February, to be followed by the 'Party Congress' to follow in April. The party doesn't generally take disciplinary action against its leaders once the calendar is set in motion.

Seeing red, Jayarajan quickly proceeded to vacate the flat provided to state secretariat members of CPI(M) and left for his native Kannur the next day, without waiting to partake in the party state committee meeting scheduled for September 1. Mathrubhumi reported that the decision to oust Jayarajan was taken in the meeting of four Kerala Politburo members of the CPI(M) - Pinarayi Vijayan, M.A. Baby, A. Vijayaraghavan and M.V. Govindan - where the chief minister was overruled over by the others through a majority of 3-1.