Kasaragod: Despite Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunny Joseph confirming that P V Anvar, the mercurial former Nilambur MLA, would take on CPM's P A Mohamed Riyas in Beypore, Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan on Friday said no such decision had been taken.

Speaking to reporters in Kasaragod ahead of the statewide 'Puthuyuga Yatra' on February 6, Satheesan said the UDF had not completed its seat-sharing discussions yet. "Anvar has not declared himself as a candidate, nor is he campaigning there (in Beypore)," he said.

On February 2, Joseph had publicly stated that Anvar would be the UDF's candidate in Beypore, a CPM bastion in Kozhikode district -- an announcement that effectively made Anvar the alliance's first declared candidate.

Satheesan, who has had an openly antagonistic relationship with Anvar, now appears to pour cold water on the early declaration. But more than casting doubt on Anvar's candidature, Satheesan's stance brings out the disagreement within the Congress leadership.

IUML general secretary P M A Salam blamed the confusion on media speculation, saying the media had announced all its candidates even though internal talks were still going on.

Anvar was a CPM-backed independent MLA from Nilambur in 2016 and retained the seat in 2021, before falling out acrimoniously with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He resigned as MLA in January 2025. After an initial attempt to enter the UDF failed, Anvar joined Mamata Banerjee's All India Trinamool Congress and contested the Nilambur byelection as an independent.

Believing Satheesan had consistently blocked his entry into the UDF, Anvar repeatedly targeted the Leader of the Opposition and called for his removal. During the byelection campaign, Anvar attacked Satheesan as fiercely as he did Pinarayi Vijayan and PWD Minister Mohammed Riyas, the Chief Minister's son-in-law. Anvar described Satheesan as the "personification of arrogance".

In the June 2025 byelection, although Congress candidate Aryadan Shoukath made a comeback by defeating the CPM's M Swaraj by 11,077 votes, Anvar secured a notable 19,760 votes, prompting sections of the UDF to reassess his political utility.

Yet, it took another six months before Satheesan formally announced Anvar's induction into the UDF, alongside tribal leader C K Janu. While Satheesan and Anvar publicly patched up thereafter, Friday's remarks suggest the detente may be fragile.

Anvar has long expressed his desire to contest from Beypore, making his intentions clear even when he resigned as MLA. A section within the UDF believes Anvar's combative style could help prise the seat away from the LDF, a constituency the UDF last won in 1980.

'Not CM candidate now'
When asked if he was the UDF's chief ministerial candidate, Satheesan said he was leading the 'Puthuyuga Yatra' as the Leader of the Opposition and that he was not the CM candidate.

In Kerala, the Congress leads the UDF, he said, and if the alliance returns to power, the Chief Minister will be from the Congress. That said, the leader of the legislature party is chosen after the election, as per tradition, he said. "It is never declared in advance," Satheesan said, adding that there was complete understanding within the party leadership. "Our only aim is to bring the UDF back to power with a decisive mandate of more than 100 seats," Satheesan said.