MALAPPURAM: In an apparent dampener on the CPM’s ‘Pinarayi 3.0 Loading’ campaign, UDF’s Aryadan Shoukath romped home beating LDF’s M Swaraj with a comfortable margin in Nilambur bypoll, the result of which was announced on Monday. However, it was independent candidate P V Anvar who stole the show with a stunning performance, bagging around 20,000 votes.
This is the first time that the LDF has lost a sitting seat in a by-election after the second Pinarayi government assumed office. Anti-incumbency factor was loud and clear in all segments of the constituency, giving heartburn to the CPM that was boasting of the achievements of the LDF government. Shoukath secured lead in almost all the local bodies, except Karulayi panchayat. UDF secured lead right from the first round and steadily increased it as the counting progressed.
Anvar, who was forced to jump into the fray after being driven to the wall by the UDF, succeeded in securing votes of both the UDF and the LDF, and came second in booth number one of the Vazhikkadavu panchayat. With this performance, Anvar has once again opened the discussions over his entry into the UDF, which was blocked reportedly by Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan.
Midway through the counting, KPCC president Sunny Joseph hinted that the issue is not a closed chapter. IUML state president Panakkad Syed Sadiqali Shihab Thangal quipped that though Anvar had missed the UDF train from the Nilambur station, he can board from any other station.
Among all the constituents of the UDF, the IUML will be happier with the result as there were concerns about possible erosion of its votes as Shoukath was not in the good books of the party. But through systematic work at the grassroot level, the IUML ensured Shoukath’s victory and proved the party’s strength in Malappuram district, its home turf.
Equally happy would be Satheesan, who took all the crucial decisions beginning from selecting the candidate to accepting the votes of the Welfare Party, the political arm of the Jamaat-e-Islami. The result has boosted his position in the party and among the possible contenders for the chief minister’s post in the event of a UDF victory in the next Assembly polls.
Meanwhile, the CPM’s strategy in the election didn’t pay the expected dividends. The party was successful in deciding the agenda in the initial phase and cleverly diverted the focus from the anti-incumbency factor. But the results proved that there were no buyers for the party’s misplaced fear of the ‘dangers of the Jamaat-e-Islami’, which has a negligible presence in Nilambur.
Ties between UDF, Welfare Party may get more cordial
In fact, the strategy seems to have backfired because it created a feeling that CPM has joined the Sangh parivar in creating a sort of Islamophobia, resulting in alienating a large chunk of Muslim voters from the party.
There are indications that the ties between the UDF and the Welfare Party will be more cordial after the bypoll and the possibility of accommodating the latter in the front is not a distant reality.
The result will force the CPM to go for a deep introspection and a course correction, beyond clinging on to blame the “rainbow alliance” of BJP, Congress and the Jama’at for the dismal performance.
But the first reactions of the CPM leaders are that the party is not ready to mend its ways.
