Kerala’s controversial Industries and Sports Minister, E P Jayarajan, has landed in yet another controversy within a month of assuming office - this time over his educational qualification.
Early this month trollers on social media had a field day after the minister described boxing legend Muhammad Ali as a Keralite who brought a “gold medal” to the country. Jayarajan had been responding to a television channel’s call for comment on the boxing legend’s death.
The minister later stirred a hornet’s nest when he abused iconic Indian athlete Anju George, the Kerala Sports Council president, who paid him a courtesy call.
Jayarajan also asked who had given her permission to claim airfares from Bengaluru  – where she lives –  to attend the council meetings.
The latest controversy was triggered by conflicting claims over the minister’s educational qualifications. Jayarajan is considered to be the No 2 in the cabinet of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
In affidavits submitted along with his nomination papers for the Assembly elections in 2011 and 2016, Jayarajan had stated his educational qualification as class X of the state board (Secondary School Leaving Certificate or SSLC).
However, on the official Kerala Assembly website, Jayarajan’s educational qualification has been shown as pre-degree (equivalent to class XII or pre-university) and a diploma in electrical engineering.
Though Jayarajan has not responded to the reports appearing in the local media, the affidavits are taken seriously as any error in it could attract disqualification.
The Assembly website’s link to the profile of the members elected last month is yet to be activated.
When he was elected to the Assembly previously, in 1991, his qualification again was pre-degree.
The 65-year-old leader is a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) which leads the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF).
The LDF roared back to power last month after sitting in opposition for five years, raising a series of corruption and appeasement charges against the previous Congress party-led government led by Oommen Chandy.
Jayarajan is not the only minister in the 19-member cabinet of India’s most literate state who has jumped into the thick of politics before completing his schooling.
The affidavit of A C Moideen, who holds the tourism portfolio and was in the news recently for publicly reprimanding a police inspector soon after assuming office, shows he has “failed” the SSLC exams.
Tourism is the only industry in the state that has been showing a steady and robust growth for the last two decades and the minister holding the portfolio frequently travels abroad holding roadshows and attending trade fairs.
His colleagues like Transport Minister A K Saseendran, Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan and Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan have, however, managed to “complete” their SSLC.
The 72-year-old chief minister’s educational qualification is displayed on the website as ‘BA degree course completed’. This does not necessarily mean he holds a degree. There are more ministers who have similarly “completed” their degree courses.
There are also lawyers, a professor and at least two PhDs in the cabinet. Leader of the opposition in the Kerala Assembly, Ramesh Chennithala, 59, a Congress party leader who enjoys all the facilities of a cabinet minister, holds a bachelor’s degree in an undisclosed discipline.