KOCHI: Letting bygones be bygones, past fire-breathing accusations melted into broad smiles on Tuesday, as Opposition Leader V D Satheesan and All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leader P V Anvar publicly reaffirmed their political camaraderie, by draping each other in tricolour shawls.
Underscoring the strength of new associate members joining the UDF fold, the event was attended by Janadhipathya Rashtriya Sabha (JRS) leader C K Janu. Satheesan ceremonially presented shawls to Janu also, and to the new mayor-designate and introduced the Kochi Corporation’s new leadership to the alliance’s associate party leaders.
Speaking to reporters at the Government Guest House in Kochi after the meeting, both Anvar and Janu praised the UDF and its leadership, and assured that they would stand firmly with the alliance.
“I am here to meet the Opposition leader, and it was important for me to express our gratitude. I am in a fight against Pinarayism, and I will continue with that. The question of contesting seats does not arise now. The UDF leadership will decide whether I should contest or not,” said Anvar. He added that even if the UDF asks him to take part in the election campaign across all 140 constituencies, he would do so wholeheartedly.
Janu said the UDF is the only political front that embraces all sections of society and functions in a truly democratic manner. “Within the UDF, there is democratic decency and a space where every voice is heard.
Over the past nine years, we received neither consideration nor a hearing within the NDA alliance,” she said. She stated that the scars of the Muthanga incident have never faded and that she speaks about it wherever she goes. “Yet, the UDF is the only alliance capable of politically uplifting communities that are treated as backward, Janu added.