The State CPI(M) leadership has decided to re-induct party Central committee member E.P. Jayarajan into the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet, raising the possibility of his becoming the number two in the LDF government.
The CPI(M) State committee took the formal decision to bring back Mr. Jayarajan, who has been remaining in the wild for over one-and-a-half years after his resignation over nepotism charges, at a hurriedly convened meeting here on Friday. The party also decided to dovetail his return to a small but significant shuffle in portfolios of key Ministers.
Briefing reporters after the CPI(M) State committee meeting, party State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the committee had decided to recommend to the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) leadership allocation of the Industries and Commerce portfolio to Mr. Jayarajan on his return to the Cabinet. He would also be in charge of Mining and Geology and Sports and Youth Affairs.
This is nothing short of a triumphant return for Mr. Jayarajan, who had to put in his papers on October 14, 2016, when the Opposition and the media raised a furore over the appointment of a close kin at the helm of a State public sector undertaking and the Vigilance registered a case against him over the allegation. The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) had subsequently cleared him of the charges, leading to the Kerala High Court quashing the charge sheet against him on September 27, 2017.
Mr. Balakrishnan said A.C. Moideen, who had taken over the Industries portfolio from Mr. Jayarajan, would be allotted the Local Administration covering both urban and village local bodies, and Rural Development. It has also been decided to split the Education portfolio now being held by C. Ravindranath and hand over Higher Education to K.T. Jaleel. He would continue to be in charge of Welfare of Minorities and Wakf and Haj Pilgrimage.
Mr. Balakrishnan hinted at the possibility of the CPI, the second largest constituent of the LDF, being given the Government Chief Whip post with Cabinet rank. Replying to questions, he said there was nothing wrong in a Government Chief Whip being appointed and that the CPI had nothing against Mr. Jayarajan’s re-induction. Even after Mr. Jayarajan’s re-induction, the size of the Cabinet would be only 20, one less than that of the last United Democratic Front (UDF) government, he said.