An Anvar conundrum for the Left in Kerala

The LDF government could have ignored Anvar hoping that he would soon become politically irrelevant. Instead, it did exactly the opposite and has now put the spotlight on the MLA.

When two-time Left MLA P V Anvar was arrested on January 5 night for taking his protest at the Nilambur North Division Forest Office beyond legally permissible limits, few were convinced it was an act consummated purely out of concern for the law. Anvar has been accused of doing far worse in the past and has gotten away each time with disconcerting regularity, but that was before he came out openly against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and some of Vijayan’s top political aides like P Sasi and trusted officers like ADGP M R Ajith Kumar.

Sure, what goes around must come around. Anvar was the man the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) loved to hate, till not too long ago. His in-your-face antics over the years, like numerous illegal diversions of the natural flow of water bodies at his controversial PVR Naturo Resort brooked no opposition from the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government. This held true both during his first stint as MLA and the first half of his current stint.

No one was surprised as Anvar was Vijayan’s blue-eyed boy, who could get away with murder, much to the chagrin of not only the UDF but a good share of the LDF leaders as well. It was in 2018 that the violations while constructing bunds and diverting the natural water bodies at his Kakkadampoyil resort in the lower Kakkad valley of Kozhikode district first came to light. It was not lost on anyone that Anvar’s open violation of a bunch of laws came the same year the state was hit by what was arguably the worst flood of the century.

The Kerala government seemed least concerned as the many violation charges brooked no offence as Anvar was one of the most vocal spokespersons of the chief minister on social media platforms, especially when his office came under attack on multiple fronts. Groomed as a Congress leader, the 2016 Assembly election marked Anvar’s first foray into the Left camp. Even after his first term as Nilambur MLA was up, Anvar retained his seat in the 2021 polls contesting as an independent with Left backing.

It was only in October that he gave official shape to his open rift with the LDF by forming his party, the Democratic Movement of Kerala. Thereafter, it was only a matter of time before some LDF leaders who were always against Anvar prevailed upon Vijayan to come down hard on his once trusted strong man and money bag from Nilambur.

Ever since he came out in open criticism against the power constellation around the chief minister, Anvar has turned persona non grata for the ruling dispensation in Kerala. It was particularly disconcerting as Anvar, known also for his cyber warfare against the Left’s opponents, had turned the same weapon against his erstwhile mentors.

The LDF government, which could have ignored Anvar hoping that he would soon become politically irrelevant, has done exactly the opposite by allowing political vendetta to prevail while dealing with him. On January 6, a local court granted Anvar bail.

It was sheer overkill to get dozens of police personnel to storm his house, thus putting Anvar in the political limelight. Some of the UDF leaders are already sending out open signals to Anvar that they may not be averse to bringing him on board, even if it means finding alternative accommodation to their long bet for Nilambur, Aryadan Shoukat. It is a moot point whether Anvar would still be inclined to claim to be a rebel Left leader, with the Assembly elections in 2026.

Anvar is like the X factor, a maverick capable of providing strong play to whoever chooses to wield him as a weapon in the current scheme of things. He is a minority leader, originally from the Congress camp, who has made a successful makeover as a Left leader.

By raking up the need to carve out a new district from Kozhikode and Malappuram, the most populous district in Kerala, Anvar may have hit a raw nerve. He aims to take this argument into the 15th Kerala Assembly elections next year. With this arrest, the Vijayan government may have provided legitimacy to some of Anvar’s firebrand postulations.

The question is how Anvar proposes to leverage this advantage in the coming months, even as he tries to undo some of the abject violations at his resort.

(Vinod Mathew is an author and senior journalist.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.