Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leader PK Kunhalikutty resigned as Member of the Parliament from Malappuram in north Kerala on Wednesday. Kunhalikutty’s resignation will pave the way for his return to state politics with the IUML leader now expected to contest in the Assembly elections.
“There is an upcoming election in Kerala. The party asked me to join them and lead the election along with all the other leaders. That is the reason (for the resignation). I was there in the last government as well as the deputy leader of opposition. They want me for the election," Kunhalikkutty told ANI. IUML is the second largest ally in the Congress-led United Democratic Front, which is in the opposition.
Kunhalikutty submitted his resignation to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his chamber. He had in April 2017 resigned as a legislator of the Kerala Assembly to contest bye-elections to the Malappuram parliamentary seat the same year. Kunhalikutty was elevated to national politics with the aim to 'fight the BJP and its fascist agenda' at the national level. The 2017 bye-election was necessitated by the death of his party colleague and former minister of state for External Affairs E Ahammed. Kunhalikutty had won the election with a whopping margin of 1,71,038 votes. He successfully contested the Lok Sabha in 2019 from Malappuram as well.
Kunhalikutty, who was also Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly at the time of his resignation in April 2017, is a seven-time MLA. He had successfully won from Vengara constituency in 2016.
It was in December 2020 that IUML had announced that the party's national General Secretary Kunhalikkutty will resign as MP and that he will contest the Kerala Assembly elections. The Assembly elections in Kerala will be held in a couple of months.
Kunhalikutty has in the past held the portfolio of Industries in the Oommen Chandy-led UDF government in 2011-2016. The IUML and the UDF hope that Kunhalikutty's return to state politics would boost the coalition’s prospects in the Assembly polls.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, however, had reacted to the move saying, “It's a matter of happiness to see Kunhalikutty in the ‘opposition,’” suggesting that the Left Democratic Front will come back to power in 2021.
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