Thiruvananthapuram: This is one thing that anyone can easily bet on. E P Jayarajan, when he returns to the Pinarayi Vijayan cabinet soon, will not be offered the sports portfolio.

As sports minister, Jayarajan mistook the great Muhammad Ali for some Muslim sportsperson in Kerala.

There are those within the LDF who had said that Jayarajan should have stepped down, at least from the sports ministry, the moment he uttered the blunder on the day the legend died.

Highly-placed sources in the LDF said three portfolios are now under consideration for Jayarajan: excise, industries and environment.

What is also clear is that Jayarajan will not return to his old position as the unofficial 'number two' in the Cabinet – he will not get to sit near the chief minister in the Assembly as was the case before he resigned. Culture minister A K Balan will continue in that role.

The incumbent labour and excise minister,

T P Ramakrishnan, has been requesting the party to give him rest, ever since he suffered a severe cardiac condition last year.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, however, wants him to continue. “Pinarayi feels Ramakrishnan carries a lot of moral weight, even within the party, and so he needs his presence in the cabinet. But he also wants Ramakrishnan to take it easy,” a senior CPM leader said.

Ramakrishnan, therefore, could be freed of the taxing excise portfolio. Jayarajan is also considered to be pally with local bar barons.

Another possibility that is being discussed is giving back Jayarajan the industries portfolio. But this is tricky as the incumbent minister, A C Moideen, is one of Pinarayi Vijayan's standout performers.

If Moideen is stripped of industries, he will have to be given another portfolio of equal or even greater stature.

The Sreedharan Pillai factor

This is where the Lok Sabha calculations could kick in. The party is looking for a strong candidate in Alappuzha. “The CPM reading is that the new BJP state chief P S Sreedharan Pillai, a proven vote catcher, will be the NDA candidate in Alappuzha. There is only one leader who can effectively counter the Sreedharan threat and that is G Sudhakaran,” a party source said.

So if Sudhakaran is pulled out of the cabinet to begin preparations for the Lok Sabha polls, Moideen could be given charge of the highly critical public works portfolio.

The CPM state committee, which will convene on August 10, is expected the discuss the proposal.

Five months ago it was almost settled that if at all Jayarajan returns, he will be put in charge of the local self government ministry replacing K T Jaleel.

The LDF was generally dissatisfied with Jaleel's performance.

But by the end of the last fiscal Jaleel had turned the tables by achieving record plan fund utilisation in local bodies.

Besides, the LDF is also considering a larger political role for Jaleel. It wants him to head a new formation called Indian Secular League, which is being envisaged as the LDF's answer to Muslim League in Malabar region.

In case the excise and industries portfolios are not available, the chief minister has an important portfolio with him that can be handed over without much ado: 'science, technology and environment'.

A perplexing demand

Nonetheless, top sources in the CPI said that the LDF would be advised against planting Jayarajan in sensitive departments.

“He can be highly irresponsible,” a CPI leader said. In fact, the party's forest minister K Raju had shamed Jayarajan for a perplexing demand he had made as minister.

Jayarajan, who was then industries minister, had written to Raju asking him to provide 1,200 cubic metres of teak wood for the reconstruction of a temple near his ancestral house at Irinavu village in Kannur.

Raju promptly warned his cabinet colleague that it was improper.

Still, Jayarajan’s request was forwarded to the Kannavam range office in Kannur.

Forest officials were baffled by the quantity sought: 1,200 cubic metres. It translated into 120 lorry loads of teakwood.

Jayarajan wanted an “immediate” reply. “We sat on the letter for some time as it was a foolish request and then, with the consent of the minister, wrote back saying it was impossible,” a forest department source said. There were no repercussions as Jayarajan was soon eased out.