Recent reports in media that P Jayarajan, a state committee member and former Kannur district secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), levelled serious allegations of corruption against EP Jayarajan, another senior leader in the party and the convenor of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), has brought the focus on the stake held by his son and wife in an Vaidekam, a multi-crore Ayurveda hospital in Kannur.
The allegations were raised at the recently held state committee meeting of the party, according to reports. EP Jayarajan has expressed his willingness to step down as the LDF convener, citing ill health following the controversy. P Jayarajan, considered to have wide influence in the Kannur district, had been sidelined over the past few years. In 2019 he was removed as the Kannur district secretary. During the state conference of the party held in Kochi, P Jayarajan was denied a seat in the state secretariat.
Puthusseri Koroth Jaison, son of EP Jayarajan and PK Indira, the CPI(M) leader’s wife, are both directors of the Kannur Ayurvedic Medical Care Private Limited, the promoter of the hospital project. Thomas Joseph, Chief Executive Officer of the ayurvedic hospital and EP Jayarajan have denied reports linking the cPI(M) leader to the hospital and are maintaining that Jaison and Indira are minor shareholders in the company, which has an authorised share capital of Rs 10 crore and paid-up capital of Rs 5.1 crore.
Kannur Ayurvedic Medical Care Private Limited, was incorporated in December 2014 with Jaison and Kalathil Parayil Rameshkumar, a businessman based in Kannur as directors. PK Indira, who retired as the senior manager of Kannur branch of Kerala Bank, joined the company as a director in October 2021. The hospital – Vaidekam Ayurveda Healing village – is located at Mozhara in Anthoor Municipality. According to its CEO Thomas Joseph, the project has 20 shareholders
Thomas Joseph told Asianet News that Jaison only holds shares worth Rs 10 lakh in the company, which is less than two percent of the share capital. “Jaison was one of the five or six shareholders who took the initiative for the venture. At that time EP was not a minister or LDF convener,” he said. The CEO also justified PK Indira's share in the resort saying the money she invested in the resort was from her retirement benefits. “This is not investing in Swiss banks or any other foreign bank. She was investing in a hospital that was coming up in her hometown. The allegation that they (PK Indira and PK Jaison) made investments worth crores in the company is baseless. They became shareholders in the company as most of the other shareholders were abroad and the company was in need of people who are locally available,” he said. He refused to answer a question on the quantum of shares held by Indira in the company.
Vaidekam received media attention in 2018 when a complaint was filed against Jaison for illegally levelling a hill to build the hospital resort. The Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad had then alleged that rules were violated while sanctioning the project. The Anthoor Municipality where the project is located is ruled by the CPI(M).
P Jayarajan, who is now the Vice Chairman of the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board, noticeably, has neither confirmed nor denied reports that he raised the issue at the party forum. “It is common for the media to publish false news after state committee meetings. The CPI(M) is not like the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party. There won't be any personal attack in the state committee meetings. It is likely that the party cadre would be influenced by some wrong practices in the society. Such wrong doings should be corrected," he told the media. When specifically asked if he had raised any complaint against EP Jayarajan in the meeting, P Jayarajan said that it would not be fair to speak about this to the media.
The CPI(M) state committee meeting, which concluded on December 22, had given the nod for a 'rectification drive' in the party as it thinks there is a rise in bourgeois tendencies among leaders and cadre after the CPI(M)-led LDF was voted to power for a second consecutive term.
"Starting from the state secretary, all factions, including the state secretariat and state committee to the lowest unit of branch members will be subjected to an elaborate process of self-criticism," party state secretary MV Govindan told The New Indian Express.
EP Jayarajan, was the second in command in the Cabinet, holding the portfolio of Industries in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government. He had to resign as Minister a few months after the government assumed power over controversies related to the appointment of his nephew to a top position in a Public Sector Undertaking. He was however reinstated as minister in 2018.
According to party sources in Kannur, EP Jayarajan, once a party strongman, is losing his grip in the party and is not favoured because hof his deviation from basic principles espoused by the party.
Media reports in 2020 had linked Jaison, son of EP Jayarajan with gold scam-accused Swapna Suresh, calling him an alleged intermediary in the corruption case linked to Life Mission Project.