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Kerala convener of the All India Trinamul Congress (AITC) PV Anvar, who on Saturday morning said he would not contest the Nilambur by-election since the exercise requires crores of rupees

and he doesn’t have that amount of money, later on Saturday afternoon backtracked, saying he does not rule out the possibility of contesting the bypoll. Speaking to media persons at Edavanna

in Malappuram on Saturday afternoon, Anvar said people are pooling money needed to contest the polls, and workers are pressuring him to contest the bypoll. He added that he would decide on

contesting within two days. Advertisement Earlier, at a press conference at Edavanna on Saturday morning, Anvar announced that he would not contest the Nilambur by-election and ruled out any

political alliance with the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). He stated that contesting elections requires crores of rupees, which he does not have. Advertisement Anvar said the

UDF gave him false hopes and kept him waiting. He said he will not join the United Democratic Front(UDF). “I will not join a Satheesan-led UDF,” Anvar said. The UDF on Friday said that no

one in the front was pleased with Anvar’s criticism of Aryadan Shoukath, the Congress candidate in Nilambur, and asked him to withdraw those remarks. After Shoukath’s candidacy was

announced, Anvar claimed that public opinion in the Assembly constituency was not in his favour. He had also accused Shoukath, two months ago, of trying to secure a CPI-M ticket to contest

from Nilambur. The UDF’s stance is that PV Anvar can be brought into the party fold only after he unconditionally retracts all his statements criticising UDF leaders and their candidate

Aryadan Shoukath. Meanwhile. Former KPCC president K Sudhakaran said in Kannur on Saturday that he would personally try to bring PV Anwar to the UDF with the consent of the party. “I will

personally try to bring PV Anwar to the UDF with the consent of the party. The door is not closed for Anvar,” he said. He exuded confidence that the UDF candidate would win Nilambur even

without Anvar’s vote. However, he added that the competition will be tough. Following PV Anvar’s press conference on Saturday, UDF convener Adoor Prakash and KPCC president Sunny Joseph held

a crucial meeting. Party working presidents Vishnunath and AP Anil Kumar also participated in the discussion. After the meeting, Adoor Prakash said the door of the UDF is always open for

Anvar. He said he is expecting that Anvar will stand by the UDF. Advertisement