LDF convenor KP Jayarajan has an uncanny ability to be in the news: From malapropism to physically taking on those protesting against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, even by sacrificing his luxury of flying between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur.
However, on Friday, 19 May, he was sure that the Congress won’t be in power in Karnataka for long. The reason: Vijayan was not invited to Siddaramaiah’s swearing-in ceremony on Saturday, even as the Congress extended invitations to several other chief ministers.
“The Congress’s move has proved that it cannot carry out the mission of bringing together the secular democratic forces of the country against the BJP’s fascist politics,” Jayarajan said in Kannur.
Jayarajan forgot that the Congress has invited Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the CPI(M), who has been favouring a tactical tie-up with the Congress to take on the BJP.
AICC general secretary KC Venugopal told South First that his party has invited the leaders of all major Opposition parties, including the general secretaries of the CPI(M) and CPI, to the ceremony.
Jayarajan, however, will have nothing of it. “Now, what anti-BJP stand will the Congress adopt in the country,” he wondered in anger, forgetting the JD(S), the Congress’s rival in Karnataka, is a constituent of the CPI(M)-led LDF.
Also read: JD(S) ready for alliance with BJP
He also forgot that HD Kumaraswamy expressed willingness to go with the BJP, provided he was made the chief minister — a dream rejected by the majority of voters.
Venugopal said the Congress invited the chief ministers MK Stalin of Tamil Nadu and Nitish Kumar of Bihar since they are heading the DMK and Janata Dal (U).
CPI(M) insiders, meanwhile, said there was nothing wrong in Congress preferring Yechuri to Pinarayi. According to the CPI(M) norms, the national general secretary is superior to any party chief minister.
Jayarajan’s outburst came even as the Congress-led Opposition in Kerala has been accusing Vijayan of controlling the whole CPI(M) machinery in the country by retaining Yechury as a namesake general secretary.
For the Congress’s national leadership, Yechury is a confidant and advisor in evolving political strategies.
