After break with CPI(M), LDF legislator Anvar strives to stave off political wilderness

LDF legislator P.V. Anvar (file)
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Left Democratic Front (LDF) Independent legislator P.V. Anvar’s strategy appeared calibrated to prevent him from going into a political free fall after he bitterly broke ranks with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] parliamentary party on Thursday and announced his intention to sit as a non-aligned entity in the Assembly.

Nevertheless, Mr. Anvar’s signature cynicism against the political class and establishment, as evinced in his headline-hogging press conference in Malappuram, arguably has the potential to narrow his future political path.

For one, he seemed to alienate the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) by accusing its top leadership of having a symbiotic relationship with the ruling front.

He noted that Congress disavowed him when he took up cudgels against the “criminal clique” in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office (CMO). He said the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) soon followed suit. 

However, Mr. Anvar is unlikely to remain a political outlier. On Sunday, he will hold a public meeting in Malappuram to present his case against Mr. Vijayan and the latter’s office. He said he would pursue his demand for a judicial inquiry into accusations of criminality and corruption in the police in the court.

Mr. Anvar has also sought to cast himself as the voice of CPI(M) workers “disaffected” by the current disposition and the champion of the ordinary person’s struggle, chiefly minorities and left secularists, against an “insensitive and entitled” political class and “anti-people” police establishment.

Worryingly for the CPI(M), Mr. Anvar’s vitriolic attack against Mr. Vijayan unfolded when party conferences are under way in the State. Mr. Anvar has pointedly accused Mr. Vijayan’s office of desensitising the police and administration to issues raised by Left leaders.

The CPI(M) leadership viewed Mr. Anvar as a cat’s paw for entities intent on roiling branch conferences by casting doubts about the government in the minds of party workers. 

LDF convener T.P. Ramakrishnan said Mr. Anvar appeared to have fallen into the “hands of party enemies”.

Mr. Anvar’s startling course change has come as a windfall for the Opposition ahead of the Assembly session in October. Congress Working Committee member Ramesh Chennithala sought Mr. Vijayan’s resignation.

Meanwhile, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran backed Mr. Anvar’s demand for a judicial inquiry into the contraband gold interdictions by the Malappuram police and the “Thrissur Pooram controversy”. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan has called an urgent UDF meeting to discuss the political development.