Coming as it does precisely at the time when the CPI(M) Central committee is meeting in the State, the quick verification report filed by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) before the Vigilance Court here has brought controversies that had forced party Central committee member E.P. Jayarajan to resign as Industries Minister into political focus and, in a way, complicated the related organisational issues.
The CPI(M) Central committee has before it a broad agenda, which has more to do with the current political situation in the country, and the attention of the committee is unlikely to be deflected by the reports relating to Mr. Jayarajan. Still, being a meeting that is expected to get done with the niggling organisational issues in the State, it would have to take note of the development and its implications for the party and its government in the State. The question that begs an answer is whether that would result in the Central committee choosing to take a stand on the issue and the individuals involved. Apart from Mr. Jayarajan, Central committee member and Member of Parliament P.K. Sreemathy too is facing charge of nepotism.
The person who would in fact benefit from the development is Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who controls the Vigilance Department. In a sense, the filing of the Vigilance report, though on a mandate from the Vigilance Court, could be cited as proof that Mr. Vijayan is more focused on governance than on turf wars in the party and believes in giving a free hand to his officials. If so, it could have implications for the way the party disposes of the complaint against former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Mr. Jayarajan and Ms. Sreemathy. The Central committee is expected to take up the Polit Bureau commission report on the charges and counter-charges relating to Mr. Achuthanandan. There is every likelihood of the committee dealing with the issue this time.
An angle of the Jayarajan story that has largely gone unnoticed is the way a senior official like Paul Antony, who has a clean track record, has got entangled in the Vigilance case. He has been made the third accused in the case and accused of complicity in the conspiracy. The morale of top level civil servants is quite low following several incidents, especially the raid on Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) K.M. Abraham’s home by Vigilance officials and the absence of any attempt to fix responsibility for the incident, and the way Mr. Antony has been implicated in the Vigilance case would only aggravate matters.
