Kerala: PV Anvar to contest Nilambur bypolls as TMC candidate

Malappuram (Kerala) [India], June 1 (ANI): All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) has fielded their Kerala state coordinator, PV Anvar, as their candidate for the upcoming Nilambur bypolls, set to be held on June 19. Anvar had raised corruption allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's officials and claimed that he would not be contesting the bypolls, supporting the Congress candidate instead.
The byelections were necessitated after Anvar submitted his resignation on January 13 to Assembly Speaker AN Shamseer, days after holding talks with TMC leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee.
Talking about their candidate, a post by TMC read, "Under the inspiration and guidance of Hon'ble Chairperson Smt. Mamata Banerjee, we are pleased to announce the All India Trinamool Congress candidate for the impending Kerala Legislative Bye-election scheduled for 19th June, 2025."

Under the inspiration and guidance of Hon’ble Chairperson Smt. @MamataOfficial , we are pleased to announce the All India Trinamool Congress candidate for the impending Kerala Legislative Bye-election scheduled for
19th June, 2025. pic.twitter.com/8fIP8EkI24

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) June 1, 2025

A few months ago, Anvar had accused CM Vijayan's political secretary P Sasi, and ADGP M R Ajith Kumar, claiming they were involved in phone tapping of ministers and journalists and also accused the ADGP and IPS officer Sujith Das of misappropriated seized gold. Anvar had claimed that there was RSS influence in the home department and Muslim youths were being framed in false cases.
Following the accusations, Anvar, then an independent MLA but aligned with the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in the state, vowed to work for ending the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government.
"I will not contest the Nilambur by-election. I will give full support to the Congress candidate to end the Pinarayi government. The Congress should field a candidate from Nilambur. Malappuram DCC president Joy is the suitable candidate," Anvar had told mediapersons on January 13.
The byelection has political significance as it is a precursor to next year's state assembly election and will test the popularity of the current government led by CM Vijayan.
Anvar has also raised the issue of human-animal conflict in the state, and also apologised to Congress MLA VD Satheesan for raising corruption allegations against him, saying that CM Vijayan's political secretary had asked him to raise those allegations.
"CM's political secretary asked me to raise corruption allegation against opposition leader VD Satheesan in the assembly. He has prepared the matter to present in the assembly. The allegation that VD Satheesan received Rs 150 crore was raised in the assembly with the permission of the Speaker. I don't know whether there was a conspiracy. I apologise to opposition leader V D Satheesan and the public for this," he told reporters.
Anvar has been the Nilambur MLA since 2016, backed by the LDF in both the 2016 and 2021 assembly elections.
Notably, LDF has announced M Swaraj as their candidate, meanwhile Bharatiya Janata Party is fielding Mohan George and the United Democratic Front (UDF) announced Aryadan Shoukath. (ANI)