To ensure that its political rival and CPI(M) candidate P Jayarajan does not stand a chance of winning the parliamentary seat from Vadakara constituency of Kerala, the Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) has decided to support United Democratic Front (UDF) in the upcoming polls.
RMP, formed by slain leader TP Chandrasekharan, has decided not to contest from the constituency, and will instead support UDF lead by Congress. KK Rema, the widow of TP Chandrasekharan, told the media, that 'a murderer should not win' at any cost.
Detailing the strategy, RMP state secretary N Venu told TNM that the party reached its decision to ensure that they don't end up splitting anti-CPI(M) votes, thereby giving an edge to the Left Democratic Front. “We are not sure that RMP will get the margins required to win if we stand in the election. We would not have bothered about that but since our primary motive is to see Jayarajan defeated, RMP decided to ensure that the votes of our party and its sympathisers go to UDF,” Venu told TNM.
Chandrasekharan, who launched the Revolutionary Marxist Party in 2009, was hacked to death by some assailants on May 4, 2012, when he was returning home in his hometown near Kozhikode.
A court has sentenced 11 people, including 3 CPI-M leaders, to life imprisonment in the case. The demand to probe the conspiracy behind the murder is still in the court.
Meanwhile, K K Rema told the media that RMP has not changed its stance on UDF, but merely wanted to ensure that Jayarajan does not win. “The tears of people like me and others are against Jayarajan. We will do everything to defeat him. Even though we are supporting the UDF, we will not share the campaigning stage with them. RMP will do its share of ground-level work to make sure P Jayarajan is defeated and UDF candidate wins,” said Rema.
P Jayarajan is the strongest leader of the party in the northern district of Kannur. He was CPI(M)’s Kannur district secretary and had stepped down once his candidature was announced.
P Jayarajan during an election campaign
But the party veteran is accused in two political murders in the state - Kathiroor Manoj and Ariyil Abdul Shukoor murder cases.
He has been charged by the CBI in connection with the murder of an Indian Muslim Youth League worker Ariyil Abdul Shukoor in 2012 and over the killing of RSS worker Kathiroor Manoj in 2014.
Abdul Shukoor, a 22-year-old was killed near Thaliparamba in Kannur district- a fortress of the CPI (M)- on February 20, 2012. According to the police charge sheet, Shukoor was murdered as vendetta because he was involved in blocking and attacking a vehicle in which Jayarajan and MLA TV Rajesh had travelled. The murder happened within hours after the vehicle was attacked.
Jayarajan was arrested in August 2012 regarding the murder and was remanded for 14 days. Recently, last February, CBI filed a chargesheet in the Thalassery Sessions Court, naming Jayarajan as accused number 32. He was charged under section 120 (b) for criminal conspiracy (read with 302 IPC for murder). But the court returned the chargesheet filed by CBI.
The CBI has also filed a supplementary chargesheet against P Jayarajan on September 2017 regarding the 2014 murder of RSS worker Kathiroor Manoj or Elanthottathil Manoj.
CBI investigation had also found that the murder was a retaliatory attempt against the attack on P Jayarajan in 1999.
RMP strategy