Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan to Face Stringent Action

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Industries Minister E.P. Jayarajan appears to be on his way out of the Pinarayi Vijayan Cabinet with the CPM Central leadership taking a stern stand on the allegations of nepotism against him and the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) deciding to initiate a Quick Verification (QV) of the charges.
CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury is understood to have told the State party leadership in no unmistakable terms that there should be stringent action in the matter so that the dented image of the party and the government could be restored. He was also of the view that the decision is best taken at the State level without any direct intervention from the party’s national leadership. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is also stated to be unhappy with the turn of events, but wants the party State secretariat to discuss the issue threadbare and arrive at a decision.
At the weekly Cabinet meeting, the Chief Minister had cut short Jayarajan’s attempt to explain his side of the story and more or less made his stand on the nepotism question clear by posting on his Facebook page that the Chief Secretary has been asked to examine the allegatio
ns of nepotism.
His use of the word ‘nepotism’ in the post and the Cabinet decision to go in for a legislation to prevent nepotism seemed to suggest admission of wrongdoing on the part of Jayarajan.