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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shobha Surendran on Thursday said that Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] leader E.P. Jayarajan was ready to join the saffron party.
Speaking to reporters here, Ms. Surendran, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the Alappuzha constituency, said that Mr. Jayarajan’s proposed switch to the BJP was “90% completed” but he withdrew in the eleventh hour “fearing the party [CPI (M)] quotation.”
The BJP leader said that she had held discussions with Mr. Jayarajan’s son at a hotel in Kochi on January 18, 2023, in the presence of BJP leader C.G. Rajagopal. She said that Mr. Jayarajan’s son had sent her messages on WhatsApp, which remained on her phone.
CM informed
Ms. Surendran said that talks had been held with Mr. Jayarajan at a hotel in Delhi, but the information was immediately passed on to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan by self-styled political power broker T.G. Nandakumar, who acted as an intermediary between Mr. Jayarajan and the BJP. According to the BJP leader, an air ticket for her to go to Delhi on April 23, 2023, to hold discussions on Mr. Jayarajan’s entry into the BJP was arranged by Mr. Nandakumar.
“My party has given me the charge of eight States. I held discussions with top leaders of political parties who were ready to join the BJP. I will continue this. Mr. Jayarajan’s entry into the BJP got stalled due to threats from the CPI(M). I want Mr. Jayarajan and his family to be alive,” she said, adding that the Chief Minister of Kerala would not hesitate to do anything.
Defamation bid
On Mr. Nandakumar’s allegation that Ms. Surendran tried to become the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry by paying a bribe, she said he was trying to defame her. The BJP leader said she had filed a complaint against Mr. Nandakumar to State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb. “By levelling baseless allegations, Mr. Nandakumar has insulted a woman. The police should immediately arrest him,” Ms. Surendran said.
She threatened to launch a protest in front of the police chief’s house if the latter failed to act on her complaint.
