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Anvar poses challenge to LDF’s bid to garner votes of Muslims in Kerala
Backed by CPI(M), the two-time independent MLA even went ahead and demanded the resignation of the CM
Businessman-turned-politician PV Anwar, who once described Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan as a “father figure”, has now turned against him, accusing him of protecting “corrupt” officials and throwing a challenge to the beleaguered CM who is trying to win Muslim votes in the state.
Backed by CPI(M), the two-time independent MLA even went ahead and demanded the resignation of the CM.
“I put my belief in him (Vijayan) to take action on the complaints that I have raised against ADGP MR Ajith Kumar and political secretary to CM, P Sasi. I wanted them to be removed from their positions, but I didn’t want the CM to take the hit. So, I always protected him all this while. But I was cheated. I told the CM to his face that his political graph has plummeted to zero and that people hate him now,” Anvar told reporters at the PWD rest house in Nilambur on September 26.
The 57-year-old MLA accused the chief minister of protecting Ajith Kumar whom he has accused of misappropriating gold, smuggled via the Calicut international airport, amassing illegal wealth, tapping phone calls of ministers, and being involved in felling and sale of valuable trees.
“The CM has failed as the home minister. He must quit,” Anvar said.
Following his allegations, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government announced probes against the controversial police officer and dismissed Anvar’s charges against CM Vijayan.
A week later, Anvar, who won the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections from Nilambur constituency as a CPI(M)-backed Independent, left the LDF fold and vowed to launch a political party to contest the elections in the state.
Anvar launched his movement, calling it the Democratic Movement of Kerala, in Manjery on Sunday, and said that it will uphold the secular, socialist and democratic values. He also announced that he will contest the 2026 assembly polls.
It is the first instance of a Left legislator breaking ranks with the coalition and directly taking on the chief minister in over eight years.
Anvar’s movement is seen as a big blow to the LDF, which has been trying to make inroads into the Muslim community that accounts for nearly 27% of the state’s electorate and has traditionally backed the Congress-led UDF.
In Kerala, while Muslims are present in all 14 districts, they are concentrated in the northern districts of Kasaragod (37%), Kannur (29%), Wayanad (28%), Kozhikode (39%) and Malappuram (70%) as per 2011 census data – forming a key vote bank across seven of the 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.
According to the CSDS-Lokniti post-survey in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, around 65% of the Muslim vote in Kerala had consolidated behind the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), helping it to win 19 seats.
Two years down the line, the LDF returned to power following the assembly polls, first time in three decades, sweeping northern and southern districts, getting sizeable Muslim vote. It won three out of five seats in Kasaragod, nine out of 11 in Kannur, and 11 out of 13 in Kozhikode – a near repeat of 2016 elections.
In Malappuram, the LDF could win only four of 16 seats, but was still remarkable considering the district is the fortress of the IUML, an ally of the Congress. A CSDS survey claimed that 39% of Muslims backed LDF compared to 35% in 2016, while the community’s support for UDF remained stagnant at 58%.
In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the LDF sank again, winning just one out of the 20 seats, a repeat of 2019. The margins of its defeat in constituencies, where Muslims play a key role, were recorded: in Malappuram, it went from 260,000 to 300,00; in Ponnani, 193,000 to 235,000; in Vadakara, 84,000 to 114,000; and in Kannur, 94,000 to 108,000. The CPM, in its post-poll review, admitted that key sections of the Hindu Ezhava community and Muslim community drifted from it towards the UDF.
Asharaf A, head of the department of Islamic and West Asian studies at the Kerala University, said that LDF had benefited massively in 2016 and 2021 assembly elections from the attempts on part of Vijayan to build bridges with the Muslim community.
“For a long time, the Communist parties could not get close to the Muslim community as the latter felt that all those holding the red flag were against religion and religious practices. It was in 1986 that the first breakthrough happened when AP Aboobacker Musaliyar faction of the Sunnis got close to the CPM as a result of divisions within the clerics group of Samastha,” said Asharaf.
“The LDF got the majority support from the Muslim community in the last eight years. Many figures and groups that were acting as satellites of parties such as IUML got close to the CPM and were willing to listen to what the party had to say. But now, the government’s actions are seen to be damaging the prospects of the LDF in Malabar. Anvar today is a catalyst and the issues he is raising will have a big political impact, especially among the Muslims,” he added.
Many within the CPI(M) believe with Anvar has raised the correct issues and was being talked in local committee conferences of the CPI(M).
EA Suku, a former CPI(M) area committee member, said that there is a feeling within the CPI(M) that the party has not been able to respond properly to Anvar’s allegations. “Many people attending Anvar’s meeting are CPI(M) workers,” said Suku, who served as the Vazhikkadavu panchayat president between 2015 and 2020.
He said that the news of ADGP Ajith Kumar having secretly met top RSS leaders last year has brought fears within the Muslim community, which accounts for 26.5% of the state’s population as per the 2011 census. “It’s unusual for a top police officer under a Left regime holding secret talks with RSS leaders a year before elections without the knowledge of CPI(M) leaders,” said CK Nasar, a panchayat member in Vazhikkadavu associated with IUML.
J Prabhash, former professor of political science at the University of Kerala, said that CPIM workers and sympathisers can relate to Anvar as he is articulating what has been going on in their minds.
“Many feel that Vijayan is running a one-man show and all the power is concentrated in him. The allegations that Anvar is making about police and the home department are grave and his credibility currently is very high. The LDF supporters and insiders were waiting for someone to articulate these issues and Anvar came in at the right time. This way, he can sway a lot of independent voters and Left sympathisers who have lost trust in the party,” said Prabhash.
The CPI(M), however, is accusing Anvar of leading an “unholy alliance” with extremist forces such as SDPI, political wing of the PFI, and Jamaat-e-Islami. In return, the MLA alleged that he was being labelled “communal” for offering prayers five times a day, portraying the Left as “anti-faith”.
“The Left strategy of using communalism to target Anvar will backfire. They are using the language of the BJP/RSS,” Prabhash said, asking why did the LDF carry Anvar onboard all these years if he was a communal man. He agreed with Ashraf that Vijayan will not get the Muslim support that he had got in the 2021 assembly polls.
Ashraf added that Anvar’s party would “definitely” create a crisis for the CPI(M) not just in Nilambur but across Malappuram. “The beneficiary ultimately will be the IUML and UDF,” he said.
