Latest news with #AryadanMuhammed
New Indian Express
17-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Christians caught in Nilambur's communal crosscurrents
MALAPPURAM: Ahead of the Nilambur by-election, scheduled for Thursday, political parties are making their final push, with one eye firmly on the Christian vote. Traditionally loyal to the United Democratic Front (UDF), Christians in the constituency are now being courted more aggressively than ever, in what is emerging as a test case for shifting communal and political dynamics in the state. With close to 40,000 voters, Christians account for nearly 11% of the electorate in Nilambur. They comprises mostly migrant highland farmers and their families — about 14,000 Syro-Malabar Catholics, 9,000 Orthodox Christians, 6,000 Marthomites, 4,000 Malankara Catholics, and smaller groups belonging to Latin Catholic, Jacobite, CSI and Pentecostal churches. Historically, this bloc has leaned heavily towards the Congress and the UDF, especially during the tenure of former MLA and veteran leader Aryadan Muhammed. However, the last two elections have indicated a shift — with 1,000 to 2,000 voters reportedly backing LDF-backed Independent candidate P V Anvar. Now, this bypoll comes against the backdrop of growing uneasiness between Christian and Muslim communities in Kerala, a divide that the BJP-led NDA is seeking to exploit. The UDF's alliance with the Welfare Party, linked to the radical Jamaat-e-Islami, has also triggered concerns among Christian organisations. The Catholic Congress (Thamarassery diocese) recently issued a pointed statement cautioning the Congress over its choice of allies. 'This was not a message to influence votes, but a public warning,' clarified Dr Chacko Kalamparambil, president of the Thamarassery unit. 'Political parties must disown the whitewashing of religious extremism. We also strongly condemn the leader of opposition's remarks equating Catholic Congress with CASA.' The remarks stirred a debate, but Congress leadership remains unfazed. KPCC president Sunny Joseph dismissed the controversy, stating, 'The Catholic Congress statement came from the Thamarassery unit, while Nilambur falls under the Mananthavady diocese. We do not believe it will have any significant impact here. Our organisational presence among Christian farmers in Nilambur remains strong.'
India Today
04-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
Why PV Anvar looms over Congress, LDF in Nilambur bypoll
The forthcoming by-election to the Nilambur assembly constituency in Kerala's Malappuram is generating huge political interest with the entry into the fray of its two-term independent MLA P.V. who had a falling out with the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF), after he targeted chief minister Pinrayi Vijayan, is now state convenor of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). He resigned as MLA in January after facing the heat for alleging that additional DGP (director general of police) M.R. Ajithkumar was involved in gold smuggling. Ajithkumar is widely considered as an officer enjoying the trust of the Vijayan Anvar contesting the June 19 bypoll, both the LDF and the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) are gearing up for the used to be a Congress citadel, with Aryadan Muhammed holding the seat uninterrupted for almost 30 years since 1987. Anvar, backed by the LDF, wrested the constituency in 2016 by 11,500 votes and again in 2021. The Congress has fielded Aryadan Muhammed's son Aryadan Shoukath, who had lost the election in 2016. The LDF nominee is the CPI(M)'s M. Swaraj, a youth leader and native of Nilambur. The BJP has announced advocate Mohan George, a former Kerala Congress (Joseph) leader, as its candidate in continuation of the party's efforts to woo the Christian nomination paper as a TMC nominee was rejected by the returning officer as the party had apparently delayed authorisation. Anvar then is technically contesting as an Independent, which could mean political freedom to decide on his loyalties should he do the Congress-led UDF and LDF assess Anvar's impact on the bypoll? 'Anvar cannot change the destiny of the Congress in Nilambur. We will win by a massive mandate and also inflict a shock on the Pinarayi Vijayan government. The people of Kerala are waiting to give their verdict,' said leader of the Opposition V.D. state secretary M.V. Govindan Master considers Anvar politically irrelevant. 'Anvar is of concern for the Congress. We are least bothered about him. We are confident of winning the bypoll,' he told INDIA Anvar remains a force to reckon with in the electoral politics of Malappuram. The 58-year-old entrepreneur-turned-politician has a Congress family background. He started his electoral career with the 2011 assembly polls, in which he contested from the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) stronghold of Eranad as an Independent, losing narrowly by 11,246 votes but securing a 41.5 per cent vote contested the Lok Sabha polls in 2014 from Wayanad but failed—a vote share of just 4 per cent. In the 2016 assembly polls, the CPI(M) backed him from Nilambur and again in 2021. Under the LDF banner, he also contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Ponnani as an Independent, losing by over 193,000 was favoured by the CPI(M) as he lent the party political mileage in Malappuram against the IUML. But relations strained after he was denied a ministerial post in the second innings of the Vijayan government. Whether or not he wins, Anvar can arguably determine the outcome of the election since he has a captive vote base of around 25,000 in Nilambur. Good reason for the LDF and the UDF to keep fingers crossed till counting to India Today Magazine
