After top CPI(M) leader EP Jayarajan’s resignation as Industries Minister over nepotism charges relating to the appointment of his relatives in corporations under the Industries Department, Kerala’s Congress-led Opposition UDF has targeted Marxist Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, assuring disruption of the proceedings in the Assembly which is resuming session on Monday after its abrupt adjournment on October 5 due to noisy Opposition protests over the issue of hike in fees in self-financing medical colleges.
Referring to the ongoing Vigilance probe into the nepotism charges against Jayarajan, Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said, “The role of the Chief Minister should also be investigated. The nepotistic appointments in positions like that of managing director in important PSUs would not have been taken place without the Chief Minister’s knowledge and clearance.”
Jayarajan, CPI(M)’s central committee (CC) member, resigned from the Pinarayi Cabinet last Friday following the allegation that Sudheer Nambiar, son of PK Sreemathy, another CC member and his sister-in-law, was appointed as MD in an Industries PSU though he was not qualified for the job. Some of his other relatives also had got prime positions in certain other units.
“We will continue our agitation against the anti-people policies of the Pinarayi Government inside and outside the Assembly. The UDF will take a decision on how that agitation should be held at its meeting on Monday morning,” Chennithala said. The Opposition had not allowed the House to run properly on any the eight days it was in sitting in the current session that started on September 26.
The CPI(M)-led ruling lDF’s plan is to counter the Opposition by making the claim that it had removed Jayarajan from the Cabinet immediately after the charge was leveled against him unlike the UDF, which during its rule had protected at least six of its ministers including then chief minister Oommen Chandy when serious corruption allegations were leveled against them.
Stating that the difference between the left and the UDF was there for everyone to see as Jayarajan had resigned just when the charge came up against him, law and Culture Minister AK Balan ridiculed the Opposition by saying, “Errors will never be committed by three sections: Dead bodies, babies that are yet to be born and the Congress – or Oommen Chandy!”
Also, the lDF has reportedly collected details of the alleged nepotistic appointments made under the former UDF government. The list of the alleged beneficiaries is said to include relatives of Chandy, Chennithala, former ministers VS Sivakumar and Anoop Jacob and MlAs of the Congress and its ally Muslim league.
“Did Chandy resign as CM when there was a probe against himIJ There were at least five others in his Cabinet who faced Vigilance probes. Did any of them resignIJ We in the left are different. Humans do err. But then we take corrective measures. That is why Jayarajan resigned – in order to uphold values. The Congress has no such culture,” said a senior CPI(M) leader.
Meanwhile, sources in the CPI(M) said that the party would certainly take disciplinary action against Jayarajan and Sreemathy. “It is up to the central committee to decide on the action to be taken against them,” said the CPI(M) leader. Both of them had admitted to the party’s State secretariat that there had been lapses on their part in the case of the nepotistic appointments.
At the same time, the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau will on Monday submit its preliminary report on the probe against Jayarajan to the Special Vigilance Court in Thiruvananthapuram. The court will also consider on Monday a petition seeking an investigation into the alleged nepotistic appointments made during the previous UDF regime’s tenure.