Kochi: The Congress, leading the opposition UDF, appears to have won some early points in the June 19 Nilambur assembly bypoll by announcing its candidate well ahead of the other major fronts. The party has scored key political points not just by picking its candidate early but also by not yielding to the pressure tactics put up by former MLA PV Anvar. 

Congress on Monday decided to field Aryadan Shoukath, for whom Anvar has zero regard. Anvar wanted District Congress Committee president V S Joy to be the UDF candidate. The Nilambur bypoll has been necessitated by Anvar, who was a CPM-backed independent MLA, resigning from the post after raising severe allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. 

Anvar, who joined the Trinamool Congress as its Kerala chief after severing ties with CPM, has been eyeing a berth in the UDF, and the opposition front had also responded favourably, though not in clear terms. The Congress’s stand has been that Anvar would be made a part of the UDF, though the type of the alliance would be decided only later. Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan, also the chairman of the UDF, reiterated the same stand after announcing Shoukath’s candidature. The statement was made soon after the Congress made it clear that the party leadership had spoiled Anvar’s plan to play the narrative setter in Nilambur.

Congress state chief Sunny Joseph and UDF convenor Adoor Prakash also suggested that talks with Anvar would continue. Anvar, however, was visibly upset with the decision to field Shoukath. He unleashed a tirade against the UDF candidate and said he would make his next move in two days after analysing the public response to Shoukath’s candidature. Anvar made the statement a day after saying he would support any candidate fielded by the UDF. “I said it, but I didn’t mean anyone could be fielded,” Anvar explained, rather unconvincingly, on Monday.

Congress leaders Onmanorama spoke to hinted that it would have been suicidal for the Congress to entertain Anvar’s demands on candidate selection. “Congress decides its candidate; not an outsider,” a top leader involved in the selection said. The leader pointed out the inconsistency in Anvar’s stand. “Yesterday, he told us and the media that he would support any candidate. This morning, he started hinting that he would oppose Shoukath. How can we entertain such a person?” the leader said. The Congress fixed Shoukath as the candidate, as the top leaders, including Satheesan and Sunny Joseph, sat together at a closed-door meeting in Kalamassery.

A KPCC functionary said the leaders had a consensus that the UDF should score a political win in Nilambur by playing down the purported Anvar factor. The party was careful not to make it look like Anvar, who has always been at the centre of controversies, was dictating the terms in Nilambur and the UDF was desperate to have his support. “He may gain a few thousand votes on his own if he contests from Nilambur, but UDF is confident of winning comfortably,” a young leader said.

Shoukath’s earlier electoral contest in Nilambur, which was also against Anvar as an LDF candidate, was unsuccessful. In 2016, Shoukath lost the assembly poll to Anvar by 11,504 votes. In 2021, Anvar retained the seat against Congress’s VV Prakash, though by only 2,700 votes. The 2016 memories, in effect, make it a must-win battle for Shoukath against Anvar. For Congress, a victory beyond doubt – about infighting, leadership weaknesses and the Anvar factor – is a necessity to keep its hopes alive for the assembly elections due next year.