The controversy around the appointment of Kerala minister EP Jayarajan’s nephew to a plum post in a PSU culminated in the minister resigning from his post on Friday.
The CPI (M) state secretariat, which accepted Jayarajan’s resignation, said that this was a way of upholding the dignity of the party as well as of the government.
In a media statement issued after his resignation was accepted, Jayarajan also repeated the statement about maintaining dignity.
Asserting that everything he has done in the last four-and-a-half-months has been for the development of the state, he said, “In order to keep the dignity of the party and to convey my logical stand, I submitted my resignation and it was then accepted by the party.”
He added that the decision to suspend and transfer corrupt individuals had resulted in a backlash from them and his political rivals in the form of the nepotism controversy.
“Political rivals and corrupt people utilized this new controversy to show the CPI (M), the LDF and the state government in poor light,” the former minister wrote.
Responding to EP Jayarajan’s resignation, veteran CPI (M) leader and Administrative Reforms Committee Chairman VS Achuthanandan commended the move, and said that the government was able to act in very different ways from the previous UDF government.
“What happened to corrupt ministers of the previous government, despite massive protests? Jayarajan has resigned with dignity. Why don’t you understand that defense?” VS told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.
However, opposition party leaders refuse to buy this positive reading of Jayarajan’s resignation.
Thrithala MLA VT Balram of the Congress, for instance, wrote on Facebook post that the Pinarayi government didn’t have anything to be proud of.
"However much people hail him, the fact remains that he resigned because he was accused of nepotism," he wrote.
Asserting that Jayarajan's resignation was not the result of any kind of moral high ground occupied by the CPI (M), Balram criticised the off-hand manner in which Jayarajan had first responded to the allegation, when he said that the recruitment of family members had not been issue till now.
Former BJP former state president V Muraleedharan said that the Pinarayi Vijayan’s government had been forced to bow to the anti-corruption will of Keralites.
“Jayarajan was forced to quit, he had no other go,” Muraleedharan was quoted as saying.
He added that the controversy was not ended simply because Jayarajan had resigned, and demanded that vigilance should carry out a probe against Jayarajan.
Close on the heels of the BJP leader, KPCC president VM Sudheeran said that the resignation was the success of the democratic system.
“This is the success of the people. Jayarajan resigned as it was his last resort,” he said.
Sudheeran also demanded that the involvement of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the appointment row should be probed further.
Refuting the opposition’s response on the resignation, CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said that rectifying a mistake was not a setback for the state government.
“CPI (M) is different from other political parties and governments and rectifying a mistake is not a matter of shame. Ours is a party that has ideologies, and so, took corrective measures on time, unlike Congress or BJP,” he said.
Meanwhile, supporters of the CPI (M) showed support for the party on social media with the hashtag #UdfAllaLdf (LDF is not UDF).