A leadership meeting of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Malappuram has given short shrift to concerns that refusing to give in to All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader P.V. Anvar’s 48-hour deadline for accommodation in the Opposition alliance will retard the momentum of the front’s campaign in the Nilambur Assembly bypoll.
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan sported a defiant face in front of television cameras, unequivocally asking Mr. Anvar to decide whether he should cooperate with the UDF’s campaign in Nilambur.
“The UDF’s response will hinge on Mr. Anvar’s reply,” he added.
Mr. Satheesan appeared confident of the UDF campaign’s progress. He said the UDF had enrolled 8,000 of the estimated 10,000 new voters. The Opposition was pressing ahead with election conventions, neighbourhood meetings, and panchayat-level knock-on-door campaigns.
He dismissed Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretary M.V. Govindan’s insinuation that internal feuding had wracked the UDF’s campaign. He said the UDF was united in its resolve to put the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government on trial in Nilambur.
He said Nilambur was UDF’s traditional stronghold and it had remained strong in the Assembly constituency. He said the alliance would reclaim its political legacy from the LDF.
The UDF would dwell on the LDF’s failure to mitigate human-animal conflicts, wildlife raids on farmlands owned by settler farmers, cratering of the rural economy, and fiscal woes as the campaign’s main talking points.
Published – May 27, 2025 09:38 pm IST
