All India Trinamool Congress state convenor P.V. Anvar on Monday said the party’s Kerala unit will sever ties with the national leadership and form a new political outfit soon.
Addressing a press conference after a state committee meeting, Anvar said the decision was taken because the party (Trinamool Congress) did not support him during the Assembly election, when he contested as a UDF-backed candidate.
Anvar, who had exited the LDF, contested as a UDF-backed independent from Beypore in Kozhikode district in the April 9 Assembly election.
“We were able to form party committees at the district, Assembly constituency and even panchayat levels over the last one and a half years. However, as an all-India party, we did not receive any support from the national leadership,” he said.
Anvar said that when he left the LDF, he had informed the Trinamool leadership that his move—including his opposition to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan—would require support from the UDF in Kerala.
“However, they later changed their stand considering political developments in West Bengal. During the Assembly election, when I contested from Beypore, I requested a national leader for campaigning. However, they said they could not share a stage with the Congress,” he said.
According to Anvar, the leadership told him that its politics in West Bengal would be affected if Congress and Trinamool Congress flags appeared together on the same stage.
“With such politics, we cannot move forward in Kerala. The question of whom to support other than the Indian National Congress in the current national political scenario remains unanswered. Therefore, the state committee has decided to sever all ties with the party's national leadership,” he said.
He added that a secular, democratic and socialist political party prioritising Kerala’s interests would be formed.
“It is a time-consuming process. A new party with a clear political policy will be formed by May 15 after discussions with district committees. The party will prioritise the interests of the state, align with the UDF, and oppose ‘Pinarayism’ and fascism. At the national level, it will fully support Rahul Gandhi,” he said.
Anvar said the move was aimed at working alongside the UDF.
“We had sought the party’s official symbol to contest the Assembly election, but it was denied as an alliance with the Congress was not acceptable to the party,” he said.
Anvar had contested the election as an independent candidate against CPI(M) leader P.A. Mohammed Riyas. Earlier, he was an LDF-backed independent MLA from Nilambur.
Following differences with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, he resigned as MLA but lost the subsequent bypoll. After leaving the LDF, he joined the Trinamool Congress. The UDF later accepted the Trinamool’s Kerala unit as an associate and allotted him the Beypore seat.
(With inputs from PTI)