New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 20 (IANS): Speculations of former Kerala CPI-M legislator S. Rajendran joining the BJP got strengthened as he met senior party leader Prakash Javadekar in the national capital on Wednesday.

Rajendran, accompanied by some leaders from Tamil Nadu, called on Javadekar, who is the BJP state charge also.

However, the former MLA said that he came to meet the BJP veteran to discuss issues in the plantation sector.

Rajendran had been one of the tallest CPI-M leaders in the Idukki district, where the backbone of the CPI-M is the large number of workers in the plantation sector. He had represented the Devikulam Assembly constituency for three terms since 2006 and was deeply upset when the party rejected his request for a ticket in the 2021 Assembly polls.

Following this, Rajendran was further peeved after his party ordered a probe against him and a two-member committee found him guilty of gross indiscipline and recommended that he be stripped of his party membership for a year. Even though the period of his suspension is over, he refused to rejoin the party, but as rumours of his bidding goodbye to the CPI-M started coming last week, he, on Sunday, took part in the Left party’s candidate Lok Sabha poll campaign in his district.

Incidentally, Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of veteran Congress leader and four-time Chief Minister K. Karunakaran joined the BJP on March 7, after she called on Javadekar. Hence, Rajendran's meeting with him has garnered attention.