Have not given the book's rights to anyone, reiterates Jayarajan amid autobiography controversy

Palakkad (Kerala), Nov 14 (IANS) Disgruntled veteran CPI-M leader E.P.Jayarajan on Thursday reiterated that he has not given his autobiography for release and termed it "part of a big controversy" as the claims were aired on the day when the state was having two elections.

Interacting with the media at Palakkad, Jayarajan, facing a barrage of questions on this topic, said that he has filed a complaint with the state police chief.

"Yesterday (Wednesday), I was really surprised to see on TV the news that my autobiography is being released. How come when I am writing the book and is not complete? I have not entered into any agreement with either DC Books (who had announced the book release on Wednesday and was later cancelled) or with any other publisher," he said.

Jayarajan maintained that he himself is writing his autobiography and it’s going on for a while now.

"My handwriting is not that good, so I have asked a journalist, a person known to me to help me check the language and such things. Since that person is presently not in town, I will speak to him when he returns about it," he added.

While Jayarajan continues to stand firm that he has done no wrong ever since the controversy surfaced, the party leaders also appear to have given their full support to him.

All eyes are on the CPI-M state Secretariat meeting to be held in the state capital on Friday and he has reason to breathe easy after state party Secretary M.V.Govindan denied media reports that the party will be seeking an explanation from him at the meeting.

Also with Jayarajan already sending a legal notice to DC Books besides filing a complaint with the state police chief seeking a comprehensive probe into the news reports about his autobiography release, which, he said, was based on forged documents, the police also is now involved.

The book titled "Kattan Chayayum Paripvada", purportedly to be launched by leading Kerala publishing house DC Books on Wednesday, was quickly put on hold after the news surfaced about the contents following the controversy.

The book allegedly highlights Jayarajan’s dissatisfaction with the party’s failure to listen to him. It also criticises the party's choice of candidates for the April Lok Sabha elections and the selection of P. Sarin, a former Congress member, as the Left candidate for the upcoming Palakkad Assembly by-election on November 20.

Meanwhile, Jayarajan on Thursday arrived to campaign for Sarin and praised him as the ideal person to represent Palakkad.

"He is the ideal candidate as he is a doctor by profession and later joined the civil services, but left to take up the work with the people and joined the Congress. Now he has quit the Congress and has come to where he actually belongs as he is basically a person with a Left outlook and ideology. Now he is at the right place," he added.

Since being denied a ticket in the 2021 Assembly elections, Jayarajan has been unpredictable, frequently putting his party in challenging positions. On April 26 - the polling date for the Lok Sabha elections in the state, he, after casting his vote, said senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar had met him at the son’s residence in the state capital city and this created a huge furore, which eventually saw his exit as the Convenor of the ruling CPI-M led Left Democratic Front.

--IANS

sg/vd