Independent MLA P.V. Anvar’s tirade against Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has taken an ugly twist with the latter making a statement that Malappuram has become a centre for “anti-national” activities and then retracting it.

Anvar, who represents Nilambur in Malappuram — a predominantly Muslim-dominated district in north Kerala — had alleged gold smuggling by CPM leaders and questioned Vijayan’s "growing nexus” with the RSS and the BJP.

Vijayan, in an interview with The Hindu on Monday, had claimed that over the past five years, 150kg of gold and hawala money worth ₹123 crore had been seized in Malappuram and the funds were being used for anti-state and anti-national purposes, an allegation often raised by the RSS-BJP over the years.

On the RSS issue, Vijayan had said: “False allegations are being made that we have a soft approach towards the RSS. This propaganda is aimed at political gain. Extremist elements are at work promoting communal divisions… these forces are trying to highlight that we are working against Muslims.”

Anvar, the Opposition Congress and several Muslim organisations in Malappuram have come out strongly against Vijayan’s comments and accused the CPM of trying to alienate the community in the state. The BJP welcomed the statement.

Sensing the outrage, the chief minister’s office (CMO) has shot off a letter, full 32 hours after the interview appeared, to The Hindu saying that the chief minister’s words regarding Malappuram were “twisted and misinterpreted”. Till that time almost all the ministers were justifying Vijayan’s remarks.

The letter sought a “clarification” from the newspaper to “rectify the perceived misinterpretation” of the chief minister’s statements.

The Hindu clarification, in turn, has put Pinarayi in a real political soup. According to the paper, the reference to Malappuram was “inserted” by the PR agency which had “fixed” the interview for the chief minister. Two representatives of the agency too were present during the 30-minute interview which was conducted in Malayalam by a Delhi-based correspondent of the paper at Kerala House in the national capital.

This has raised the question as to whether a communist chief minister needs the help of a PR agency to get his views published in a national daily.

Even after 48 hours, there is no response from the CMO or the CPM in this regard.

The same agency, said to be owned by pro-BJP people, had “arranged” an interview of Vijayan on the Wayanad landslide with the Dubai-based Khaleej Times where not even a representative of the newspaper met the chief minister. The interview appeared on September 6.

Over the past few weeks, Anvar has launched an attack on the chief minister’s office claiming that it was a den of “notorious criminals” facilitating gold smuggling and arbitrary murder of carriers.

Initially, Anvar had zeroed in on Pinarayi’s political secretary P. Sasi, who has a questionable past, and M.R. Ajith Kumar, ADGP in charge of law and order, who is already in the midst of a row over his alleged clandestine meetings with the RSS top brass, as the main culprits.

Later as the chief minister gave a clean chit to his political secretary and accused Anvar of shielding gold smugglers, Anvar turned his guns on Pinarayi and his daughter, saying they were “beneficiaries” of such dealings.

Once Anvar dared to attack Pinarayi directly, CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan held a news conference in Delhi and asked party workers in Kerala to “confront Anvar”. Even then the tone was conciliatory with Govindan asking Anvar to be patient and wait till an inquiry is conducted to look into his allegations.

The very next day, however, processions were taken out in Malappuram where provocative slogans such as “we will chop your hands and legs” were raised against the legislator. Undaunted, Anvar held a rally at Nilambur and said that he would come out against Pinarayi in a wheelchair if the cadre cut off his hands and legs.