Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan will leave for a 13-day visit to the US on 19 August. The CM was trolled over his medical trip to the United States last month.

One big question lingering in the minds of many people was who will take care of the state when Pinarayi Vijayan is away.

CPM central committee member EP Jayarajan is all set to be sworn in as the CM on 17 August. The swearing-in ceremony is slated to be held two days before Pinarayi Vijayan commences his 17-day US visit for medical treatment at the reputed Mayo clinic. 

Pinarayi Vijayan confronts more trolls now. The allegation is that the CM is ready to hand over his power to a person who doesn't deserve it.

When EP Jayarajan set foot again into the party after the nepotism case, many people criticised his return. Jayarajan had to resign on 14 October 2016 when he appointed two of his close relatives to top state public sector enterprises. Jayarajan had earlier approached the high court against the FIR claiming he had done nothing wrong.

The Vigilance Department had filed an affidavit in the high court in which it said that nothing illegal had taken place and there was no gain for anyone through the appointments. The Kerala high court quashed the case registered by Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) on 27 September 2017.

"The CM was trolled because he had criticised America and he is moving to the same place for his treatment. Now there are chances for him to give his power to an undeserving person. If this also happens then we can completely say that the CM is proving himself wrong from the time he got power," Sai Vishnu, an RSS activist, said.

Critics say that there are many others who deserve better. For instance, AK Balan, who is a senior politician and advocate. He is former minister for electricity and worked for the development of the SC/ST in the Left Democratic Front government under VS Achuthanandan from 2006-2011. He is a member of the Central Committee of Communist Party of India (Marxist), and he represents the Tarur constituency in the Kerala legislative assembly. 

"EP Jayarajan has proved his innocence and after that, he is going to rejoin the party. As per seniority, Pinarayi Vijayan should hand over the power to AK Balan in his absence," Surendran, a CPM activist, said.

Some critics are exasperated. When trolls didn’t affect the CM’s visit to USA, will it help change his stance on Jayarajan?