Indian Union Muslim League’s (IUML) National General Secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty will resign as MP from Malappuram and contest the Kerala Assembly elections in 2021, the party has announced.
The former state Industry Minister is considered the most powerful IUML leader in the state and is a major trouble-shooter for the Congress-led United Democratic Front.
Highly-placed sources in the Muslim League told IANS that the decision to field Kunhalikutty in the Assembly elections had been taken by the party long back as it knows that his acumen as an astute political strategist is necessary for the Muslim League and the UDF.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused the Muslim League of taking over the mantle of the UDF and pushing the Congress to the background. The advent of Kunhalikutty in state politics is seen by many political analysts as a major move of the League to take prominence in UDF affairs at the expense of the Congress.
BJP State President K. Surendran, however, termed the decision of Kunhalikutty to resign from the Lok Sabha and contest the state elections as “unfortunate”.
Surendran also claimed that the people of the state have seen through the UDF game plan and clearly know that UDF will not be in a position to take on the Left Democratic Front. The fight in the next Assembly elections will be between the LDF and the NDA, he claimed.
