Congress, IUML denounce Kerala MLA P.V. Anvar’s arrest as ‘political vendetta’ by LDF

The Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala has denounced the “midnight arrest and remand” of Independent legislator P.V. Nevertheless, it remained to be seen whether the UDF would signal the possibility of an accord with Mr. Anvar by involving him in the Opposition’s impending mass campaign, Malayora Jatha, against the State government’s alleged indifference towards protecting the lives and property of citizens from wild animal attacks and the “anti-settler-farmer” provisions in the contentious Kerala Forest Bill, 2024. ‘Chilling message to adversaries’ Mr. Satheesan said the government had sent a “chilling message” that it would throw the book at political adversaries, even if they were MLAs or former allies. He said Mr. Anvar posed no threat to the LDF or the CPI and was merely “a media creation whose sensational value had petered out.” Mr. Ramakrishnan dispelled Mr. Satheesan’s accusation that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office had ordered Mr. Anvar’s arrest to deter democratic dissent. Later, the Congress and the IUML echoed the same accusations, including Mr. Anvar’s charge that the Chief Minister’s office had intrigued with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s top leadership to advance Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral prospects in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 General Elections by “disrupting” the iconic Thrissur Pooram.