After break with CPI(M), LDF legislator Anvar strives to stave off political wilderness

LDF legislator P.V. Anvar's political fallout with CPI(M) sparks controversy, positioning him as a voice for disaffected workers.

Left Democratic Front (LDF) Independent legislator P.V. Anvar’s strategy appeared calibrated to prevent him from going into a political free fall after he bitterly broke ranks with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] parliamentary party on Thursday and announced his intention to sit as a non-aligned entity in the Assembly.

Nevertheless, Mr. Anvar’s signature cynicism against the political class and establishment, as evinced in his headline-hogging press conference in Malappuram, arguably has the potential to narrow his future political path.

For one, he seemed to alienate the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) by accusing its top leadership of having a symbiotic relationship with the ruling front.

He noted that Congress disavowed him when he took up cudgels against the “criminal clique” in Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office (CMO). He said the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) soon followed suit. 

However, Mr. Anvar is unlikely to remain a political outlier. On Sunday, he will hold a public meeting in Malappuram to present his case against Mr. Vijayan and the latter’s office. He said he would pursue his demand for a judicial inquiry into accusations of criminality and corruption in the police in the court.

Mr. Anvar has also sought to cast himself as the voice of CPI(M) workers “disaffected” by the current disposition and the champion of the ordinary person’s struggle, chiefly minorities and left secularists, against an “insensitive and entitled” political class and “anti-people” police establishment.

Worryingly for the CPI(M), Mr. Anvar’s vitriolic attack against Mr. Vijayan unfolded when party conferences are under way in the State. Mr. Anvar has pointedly accused Mr. Vijayan’s office of desensitising the police and administration to issues raised by Left leaders.