Kozhikode: Adding drama to the election battle in the Beypore assembly constituency, UDF candidate P V Anvar has issued a bold and theatrical challenge ahead of the poll results, which are to be announced on Monday.

Addressing the media in Feroke on Thursday, Anvar announced that if he lost the election, he would shave his head and walk through the bustling SM Street in Kozhikode city, from Kidson Corner near Mananchira to the railway station. That would not be all. He would also be wearing earrings.

Turning the spotlight on his opponent, LDF candidate and Minister P A Muhammad Riyas, Anvar challenged him to accept a similar bet. “He doesn’t need to wear earrings, just shave his head if he loses. If he has confidence, he should take up this challenge,” Anvar said.

Earlier, Riyas had claimed that he would secure over 80,000 votes and win by a comfortable margin. Anvar dismissed this claim, asserting instead that the LDF candidate would not even cross 65,000 votes in Beypore.

Anvar also criticised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s leadership style, calling it authoritarian, and alleged that Riyas’s influence within the party amounted to undue interference. “Riyas has effectively hijacked the party and is trying to run it under the control of the Chief Minister’s Office,” he claimed.

He also raised allegations of corruption in the Public Works Department, citing a reported ₹65 crore irregularity flagged by former secretary Biju Prabhakar, and questioned why the minister had not responded.

Anvar further alleged growing resentment within CPM ranks over 'family dominance', claiming that even party workers were absent from Riyas’s campaign events in Beypore, a trend he said would be reflected in the voting.

Framing the election as a direct contest between the people and the Chief Minister, Anvar said the Communist Party in Kerala was on a path of decline similar to West Bengal and Tripura. He also claimed BJP votes would decrease in Beypore and alleged that a tacit understanding between the BJP and CPM had collapsed.