Top News

Thiruvananthapuram | A day after P V Anvar pulled off a surprise performance in the Nilambur bypoll, the Congress-led UDF on Tuesday struck a cautious note on the possibility of bringing the Trinamool Congress, with him in the saddle, into its fold.

Anvar, a two-time MLA, contested as an independent in the June 19 by-election.

Though not backed officially by any major front, he secured an impressive share of votes, surprising and troubling both the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF and the UDF.

Soon after the result was announced, several UDF leaders, although buoyed by their candidate Aryadan Shoukath's victory, welcomed the idea of Anvar joining the opposition camp. But senior Congress leader and Opposition Leader V D Satheesan avoided a direct response when asked about Anvar's possible entry.

Satheesan, who reportedly resisted Anvar's overtures to support the UDF during the bypoll campaign, said 'no comments' when reporters asked him about this in Thiruvananthapuram and declined to entertain further questions on the subject.

Anvar had earlier expressed support for the UDF but ran independently after being denied a formal tie-up.

UDF Convenor Adoor Prakash, while talking to a TV channel, said nothing can be said about it at the moment, as a collective decision is needed.

He said the UDF was ready to accept Anvar into its fold before the bypoll, but it was the adamant nature of the former legislator that foiled the chances.

"I cannot comment on anything about his entry into the UDF now. A decision can be taken only after holding discussions with prominent leaders of the UDF and its coalition partners," Prakash said.

KPCC Chief Sunny Joseph also said it was nothing but Anvar's stand that had blocked his entry into the UDF.

"He has distanced himself from us... But it is a matter to be discussed. We will discuss and decide. Everything should be made a topic of discussion in politics. We will surely take an appropriate decision," he said.

The newly elected legislator in Nilambur, Aryadan Shoukath, said he was not able to comment on Anvar's entry into the UDF.

He said what Anvar had won in the bypoll was his own votes, and he could not touch the UDF votebank, he said in Malappuram.

However, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said the UDF's bypoll victory in Nilambur would be more remarkable if Anvar were part of the Opposition front.

Anvar got 19,760 votes (11.23 per cent) in the crucial bypoll held in the forest-fringe constituency on June 19.

Expressing happiness over his performance, Anvar had told the media on Monday that he had expected 30,000 votes and claimed that nearly 10,000 votes meant for him had gone to Swaraj.

He has urged the UDF to take up the issues faced by the people of the high ranges and include them in its election manifesto for the upcoming Assembly polls.

When asked whether he would be ready to join hands with the UDF, he said, "It is up to the UDF leadership to decide. I am available." In a fiercely fought by-election, the opposition Congress-led UDF on Monday wrested the Nilambur assembly constituency from the LDF by a margin of 11,077 votes, delivering a severe blow to the ruling dispensation ahead of the state election next year.

Congress' Shoukath defeated CPI(M) state secretariat member M Swaraj by a convincing margin in the Nilambur constituency, following weeks-long spirited campaign and heated exchanges between the rivals.

The Nilambur seat fell vacant after LDF-backed independent and two-time MLA P V Anvar resigned, setting off a heated political contest in the forest-fringe constituency.