LDF candidate M. Swaraj filing his nomination before Tahsildar M.P. Sindhu in Nilambur on Monday.

Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate M. Swaraj filed his nomination for the June 19 Assembly byelection on Monday. He filed the papers before Nilambur Tahsildar M.P. Sindhu.

Mr. Swaraj was accompanied by CPI(M) Politburo member A. Vijayaraghavan, CPI State assistant secretary and MP P.P. Suneer, Minister for Sports V. Abdurahman, and CPI(M) leader P.K. Sainaba.

Mr. Swaraj led a large procession to the taluk office, flanked by hundreds of enthusiastic LDF workers, showcasing the party’s strength and solidarity as they rallied behind their candidate.

All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) State convener P.V. Anvar, whose resignation as LDF’s Independent MLA has brought about the byelection in Nilambur, too filed his nomination.

Mr. Anvar said that he would contest the election under the banner of Janakeeya Prathipaksha Prathirodha Munnani (JPPM), which would be supported by the TMC as well as Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Several AAP workers and his supporters welcomed Mr. Anvar as he arrived at the taluk office to file the nomination. He said he did not have heavyweights to accompany him. Rather, he was escorted by a rubber tapper, an autorickshaw driver and a farmer.

In continuation of his ongoing tirade against the UDF leadership, Mr. Anvar launched a scathing attack on UDF chairman V.D. Satheesan, accusing him of secretly colluding with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and behaving like a dictator within the UDF. He described Mr. Satheesan as a Hitler.

Mr. Anvar alleged that Mr. Satheesan had become increasingly authoritarian, disregarding even senior leaders like Syed Sadikali Shihab Thangal and P.K. Kunhalikutty of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML).

Mr. Anvar predicted that the growing discontent within the IUML against the UDF chairman would swing the electoral momentum in his favour.

Mr. Anvar reiterated that the UDF could have leveraged the people’s discontent with the LDF government’s failures and Mr. Vijayan’s authoritarian leadership if they had fielded a candidate from the Christian settler community.

He specifically suggested District Congress Committee (DCC) president V.S. Joy, but the UDF overlooked his proposal.