KOCHI: Ending speculation around the political future of estranged P V Anvar, the Left rebel MLA has announced that he would form a new party. However, history suggests that independent Left-aligned MLAs who have floated their own parties have often struggled to expand their influence beyond their constituencies. Some notable examples include Lonappan Nambadan’s Socialist Kerala Congress, the National Secular Conference founded by Kunnamangalam MLA P T A Rahim, and the RSP (Leninist) led by Kunnathoor MLA Kovoor Kunjumon.
Lonappan Nambadan, a former Kerala Congress MLA, played a key role in bringing down the K Karunakaran ministry in 1982. With a fragile majority of just one seat, the ministry was surviving on the casting vote of Speaker A C Jose. Nambadan ensured its collapse by resigning from the Assembly and defecting to the CPM-led LDF. He later founded the Socialist Kerala Congress, aligning himself with the Left.
Despite the state’s history of numerous Kerala Congress factions, his party failed to gain traction and was disbanded in 1987. Nambadan, a six-time legislator, went on to become an MP from Mukundapuram LS constituency as a CPM candidate. Similarly, P T A Rahim’s National Secular Conference, launched in 2011 with CPM support after he won the Kunnamangalam seat, struggled to expand beyond even Kozhikode. Though Rahim, who had earlier defeated K Muraleedharan in Koduvally in 2011, continued as an MLA, his party failed to build a broader base.
Kovoor Kunjumon formed RSP (Leninist) during the 2016 assembly polls after parting ways with the RSP and joined the UDF in 2014. He contested as an independent and secured an assembly seat through the LDF. However, the party remains largely confined to his constituency, and there have been demands for representation in the Pinarayi cabinet by his supporters.
Political analyst J Prabhash pointed out that launching a successful party requires substantial resources and support. “History shows that independent MLAs who form political outfits rarely achieve significant progress. In Anvar’s case, he is unlikely to benefit whether he launches a party or not,” he said citing that Anvar has not such a stature to build a mass party despite the initial hype.
However, Prabhash added that the issues raised by Anvar will stand and have a negative impact on the CPM and the LDF government. Meanwhile, sources close to Anvar said the case of Anvar is different as he has turned against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the CPM and will take a political decision which does not align with the Left.
The history of independent legislators associated with the CPM also suggests a pattern that some have switched to the opposition parties, while others have caused headaches for the party by sparking controversies.
For instance, former independent Alphons Kannanthanam, who won the Kanjirappally seat in the 2006 assembly polls, later joined the BJP. Similarly, Manjalamkuzhi Ali, who wrested the Muslim League stronghold Mankada as an independent in 2001, eventually joined the IUML. Dr K S Manoj, who won the Alappuzha Lok Sabha seat previously held by Congress leader V M Sudheeran, became a Congress candidate in the Alappuzha assembly seat in the 2021 polls.
Earlier, addressing a mass gathering of his supporters in Nilambur last Sunday, Anvar clarified, “Many asked me if I would be launching a new party. I said, let me ask the people. I am not going to float a party. But if the people of the state unite as one, I will join them. It is up to the people to decide.”