The CPI (M) appointed MV Jayarajan as its Kannur District Secretary on Monday. The Kannur District Committee made its decision in a meeting on Monday. MV, as he is known in party circles, succeeds P Jayarajan who is now the party’s candidate for the Vadakara parliamentary constituency in neighboring Kozhikode district in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Following the announcement, MV Jayarajan who served as the Private Secretary of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Thiruvananthapuram, quit his post, and will move back to Kannur. MV Jayarajan was given temporary charge of Kannur district twice in the past when P Jayarajan was made an accused in the Kathiroor Manoj and Ariyil  Abdul Shukoor murder cases. But this time, his appointment is final and not on a temporary basis.

While P Jayarajan being given the party ticket may be viewed as an endeavour to put up a tough fight in the state’s northern region where he is an influential leader but there may be other reasons as well. The move has raised eyebrows among poll watchers. P Jayarajan is the strongest leader of the party in the northern district of Kannur. He has wide acceptance among the party rank and file, perhaps more so than other heavyweights of the party in the district like Pinarayi Vijayan, CPI (M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and Industries Minister EP Jayarajan.

A message to P Jayarajan?

P Jayarajan is an accused in the Kathiroor Manoj case and Ariyil Shokoor murder case. The party was not happy with his tainted image as a murder case accused despite the influence he has among party workers.

“Hence, giving him a seat could also be a move to keep him out of the district. This time MV Jayarajan has been appointed as Kannur district secretary, it is not a temporary charge. The only implication is that P Jayarajan won’t be back to the post if he lost the polls. Hence it is more essential for him to win, rather than it is for the party,” a source in the party said.

“The candidature can also be to provide him a shield against certain legal procedures that can be follow in the murder cases.  The state leadership has been annoyed by the twin murder of Youth Congress workers in Kasargode in which a local party leader is an accused. In that case also the party leadership in a way blames P Jayarajan, for such is the power he has over the northern region,” the source said.

P Jayarajan was once close to Pinarayi, however, the former’s supremacy in the district unit and his more or less autocratic way of functioning strained the duo’s friendship.

“The acceptance in Kannur for P Jayarajan is many times more than that for Pinarayi. During events, often P Jayarajan would get more applause than Pinarayi. The party had even warned him once for acting beyond the party’s control,” the source added.  

Jayarajan loyalists had composed a song in his honour when he had come out of jail in November 2017- “Chenchorappon Kathirakki, Chenchorappon Kathirallo, Nadin Nedunayakanallo”. The song only added to the resentment against P Jajarajan among many in the party leadership. For them, sending him out of Kannur is a move with multiple goals.