THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: P V Anvar has to make a choice soon — to keep his Trinamool Congress (TMC) tag, or discard it. With the tag intact, it would appear the former Nilambur MLA will have little chance of a smooth sailing into the UDF.
Things have become more complicated for Anvar after the Congress high command expressed strong reservation against accommodating the TMC in the front. Two top leaders of the state Congress, Leader of Opposition V D Satheeshan, who is also the UDF chairman, and CWC member Ramesh Chennithala will convey to Anvar the Congress’s misgivings in admitting TMC into the UDF.
Anvar, who is the state coordinator of TMC, however, asserted that he would stick with the Trinamool.
“Let the Congress present its arguments. Then we will present our counter arguments. I will stand with the TMC,” he told TNIE.
The Congress leaders are scheduled to meet Anvar on Wednesday. However, as the party has declared mourning for three days following the Pope Francis’ demise, there are chances the meeting would be postponed. Though TMC is part of the INDIA bloc, the Congress does not share good relations with either the party or its boss, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Mamata has been a critic of the Gandhi family on various issues and has also questioned the Congress’s leadership role in the INDIA bloc.
“They have poached many of our MLAs in Tripura and other north eastern states,” an AICC leader said. “They are insignificant in Kerala and there is no need to accommodate them in the UDF,” he said.
Being the lead partner in the UDF, the Congress wields crucial influence in the front’s decisions, which will leave Anvar with little options to seek. “Anvar has to either form a separate party like the Kerala Democratic Party led by Mani C Kappan, or join any other political party which is already part of the UDF,” a senior leader said.
Many UDF partners like the Congress and the Muslim League are unhappy with the way Anvar has been intervening in the front’s candidate selection in Nilambur, even though he is not part of the UDF.