That is the unmistakable and powerful message – beamed loud and clear – from the EP Jayarajan episode. The denouement of the poaching mission undertaken by the BJP came a cropper, leaving leaders of the BJP with egg on their faces. As for the CPI(M), the party has decided to launch a counter campaign using the EP episode as an example of the left leaders’ capacity to resist – and frustrate attempts by the Hindutva forces to win them over.

The CPI(M) secretariat which discussed the issue, gave Jayarajan a clean chit. The party accepted Jayarajan’s claim that the whole thing was a well-calculated conspiracy hatched by BJP leader Sobha Surendran, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief K. Sudhakaran with active help from controversial middleman T G Nandakumar and a section of anti-left media. The secretariat, however, asked Jayarajan to be more careful in future and stay away from shady characters like Nandakumar. EP has also initiated legal action against Sobha Surendran, K. Sudhakaran and Nandakumar following a directive from the party. The trio has been warned of legal action if they failed to make an apology through the media or pay a compensation of Rs two crore.

Needless to say, the sordid episode has come as a big embarrassment for the saffron camp. The campaign to win over left leaders like Jayarajan has boomeranged badly on the BJP. In fact, the issue has created a big controversy, leaving the party leadership with no option but to mull disciplinary action against Sobha. It was the disclosure about the Operation Lotus made by Sobha that gave the game away and left the BJP leaders red in the face.

Reports have it that BJP’s Kerala in charge Prakash Javadekar is learnt to have expressed his displeasure over Sobha’s revelations and her links with Nandakumar. which brought a bad name to the party. Operation Lotus was supposed to be a covert operation, keeping even the BJP’s state leadership in the dark. However, the party is likely to lie low till the Lok Sabha elections are announced. But, once the results are out, Sobha is sure to face action.

That there is resentment in the party over Sobha’s revelations is clear from the Facebook post of senior leader P. Reghunath. It said that links with shady and tainted people is not appropriate for party leaders. BJP does not need the help of middlemen to induct people to the party, he said, adding that such middlemen cannot be trusted.

There is no denying that Sobha’s moves have landed her in deep trouble. Her opponents in the BJP’s state unit were looking for an opportunity to cut her to size. She has given them a golden opportunity to achieve their goal. It is an open secret that there is no love lost between the official group in Kerala led by BJP state chief K. Surendran and his mentor V. Muralidharan, union minister, and Sobha. They have sharpened the knives and would go for the kill at the first available opportunity.

The entire episode proves, if proof were needed, that Left leaders alone are capable of taking on the BJP leaders and frustrate their tactics to woo left leaders to the saffron camp. The failure of the win-over-Jayarajan mission will make the Hindutva forces think twice before making another attempt such attempt.

Javadekar himself seemed to have been under the impression that left leaders can also be won over by using the tactics the party uses to poach leaders from other parties like Congress. Javadekar, it may be mentioned, had succeeded in inducing the defection to BJP of Anil Antony and Padmaja Venugopal, both offsprings of two powerful Congress families in Kerala. But he has badly burnt his fingers in trying to woo Left leaders.

It goes without saying that the Left Democratic Front has emerged with flying colours from the episode. It has proved that the left alone can withstand the pressure and intimidatory tactics of the saffron camp to tame political rivals. The Congress would do well to take a leaf out of the Left book and frustrate the BJP’s bid to intimidate them into leaving the party and hop on to the BJP bandwagon. That way lies salvation for the grand old party. Otherwise, the party faces the danger of disintegration. (IPA Service)