Nilambur bypoll: IUML leader M.K. Muneer says never had any pact with Jamaat or Welfare Party of India

A day after United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate Aryadan Shoukath won the Nilambur bypoll in Kerala with a decisive margin, Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader M.K. Muneer, MLA, has said the coalition never sought any help from the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and its political outfit, Welfare Party of India (WPI), for the election.

The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) had unleashed a fierce campaign against the WPI’s support to the UDF candidate.

Mr. Muneer told the media here on Tuesday (June 24, 2025) that the IUML, a key constituent of the UDF, and the Jamaat “would not get along well with each other because of their ideological differences.”

He claimed that the WPI was never part of the UDF. “We have never sought their votes. The UDF leaders never shared any stage with WPI leaders either,” he said.

Mr. Muneer, however, accused the Communist Party of India Marxist [CPI(M)] of changing its approach towards the Jamaat. “We never have had to change our position on the Jamaat. On the contrary, the CPI(M) and the LDF had no qualms in accepting its electoral support on multiple occasions in the past. Now, when the WPI offered its support to the UDF, the CPI(M) is branding the Jamaat as a theocratic organisation,” he noted.

‘Indebted to Govindan’

However, Mr. Muneer claimed that CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan’s statement on the eve of the bypoll that his party had accepted the support of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the past had helped the UDF candidate. “We are indebted to Mr. Govindan for that,” he said.

The anti-incumbency sentiments against the LDF government too came in Mr. Shoukath’s favour, he said.

“Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has lost the people’s support now. He is just a caretaker Chief Minister. The UDF will repeat this victory in the election to the local bodies as well as the Assembly,” he said.

The IUML leader, meanwhile, pointed out that P.V. Anvar, former Independent MLA of the LDF, who secured close to 19,000 votes in the bypoll, was a “deciding factor” in Nilambur.

Asked if the UDF would try to accommodate Mr. Anvar in the coalition, Mr. Muneer said that it was up to the leadership to take a call on the issue after detailed deliberations.