KOZHIKODE: UDF has reiterated its demand that P V Anvar should retract his adverse comments on Aryadan Shoukath to pave his way for entry to the front.
Addressing reporters after the meeting of UDF leaders on Friday, front convener Adoor Prakash said Anvar could be accommodated as an associate member only if he agrees to the condition. “Anvar made the adverse comments on Shoukath after the UDF decided the candidate, which was ratified by the Congress high command,” he said.
Reacting to Anvar’s allegation that Shoukath was not a candidate who can win the Nilambur elections, Prakash added that no party can go to polls by agreeing that the candidate has no chance of winning.
He said full membership to the Trinamool Congress is a matter that should be decided by the AICC leadership. “Hence, the suggestion that Trinamool can be an associate member. This was a decision taken much before. I communicated this to Anvar over the phone,” Prakash said, adding that he expects a positive reply from the other side.
Anvar is expected to announce his final decision at a press conference in Nilambur on Saturday morning. He is learnt to have asked for a full membership in the UDF and an assurance on a few seats in the next assembly elections.