UDF's Sudhakaran, LDF's Jayarajan Trade Accusations of Planning to Join BJP

A day ahead of polling in Kerala for the Lok Sabha elections, the KPCC chief K Sudhakaran and ruling LDF Convenor E P Jayarajan on Thursday accused each other of planning to join the BJP.While Sudhakaran alleged that the BJP leaders held parleys with Jayarajan to bring him into the party fold, the senior CPIM leader claimed that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee KPCC president had gone to Chennai to join the saffron outfit.

A day ahead of polling in Kerala for the Lok Sabha elections, the KPCC chief K Sudhakaran and ruling LDF Convenor E P Jayarajan on Thursday accused each other of planning to join the BJP.

While Sudhakaran alleged that the BJP leaders held parleys with Jayarajan to bring him into the party fold, the senior CPI(M) leader claimed that the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president had gone to Chennai to join the saffron outfit. Speaking to reporters here, Sudhakaran said you (media) accuse me of planning to join the BJP, ''but it is not me.'' ''It's going to be E P Jayarajan. Discussions were held with Jayarajan. They were held by (BJP leaders) Shobha Surendran and Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Everything was almost decided, but Jayarajan was threatened by his party... I don't know what will happen after the elections,'' he said.

Meanwhile, Jayarajan claimed that Sudhakaran travelled to Chennai to meet senior BJP leaders to join that party but returned after some Congress leaders threatened him.

The LDF convener also referred to the recent statement of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma that a section of Congress leaders were ready to break away and form another party in order to join hands with the BJP.

None of the Congress leaders have denied the claim of the Assam CM yet, the senior Left leader told scribes.

''Sudhakaran himself had claimed that the BJP leaders have asked him to meet Amit Shah for discussion regarding joining that party,'' Jayarajan alleged.

Earlier in the day, Sudhakaran alleged that Jayarajan was disappointed after M V Govindan was appointed the state secretary of the CPI(M) and expressed his displeasure among his close party co-workers.

He also alleged that none of the CPI(M) leaders, including Govindan, criticised or issued statements against the BJP.

The senior politicians traded charges against each other in the wake of allegations levelled by BJP leader Shobha Surendran a few days ago.

She had alleged that a power broker had tried to help a top CPI(M) leader who wanted to join the BJP.

Today, Shobha, a BJP candidate from Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency, at a press meet claimed that the leader was E P Jayarajan.

Kerala will go to the polls on Friday, and the results will be out on June 4.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)