Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 13 (IANS): Estranged Independent-backed Left legislator P.V. Anvar on Monday submitted his resignation to the Speaker of the Kerala Assembly.

Anvar, in the morning, walked into the office of the Speaker A.N.Shamseer and handed over his resignation letter.

Talks about his resignation as legislator first surfaced last week when he air dashed to Kolkatta and held a meeting with Chief Minister of West Bengal and Trinamul Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee.

On Sunday, he took to his social media stating that on Monday there will be important announcements. Keeping his word, he drove from the legislator’s hostel here with the MLA board of his car masked.

After spending a few minutes with the Speaker, he submitted his resignation and told him that he had resigned.

His resignation was on the cards after the Trinamool Congress in Kolkatta announced that Anvar had been appointed coordinator of TMC in Kerala. It was after that speculations surfaced that the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left would initiate steps to disqualify him as a legislator. Anvar deciding to take the fight to the enemy camp has now resigned forcing a by-election as the term to end for the present Assembly is more than a year.

Anvar first won as a Left Independent legislator in 2016 from the Nilambur constituency in Malappuram and retained it in 2021. But after September last year, he turned the tables on CM Vijayan after turning his biggest critic and has been constantly attacking him.

Things turned for the worse when last week he was arrested and had to cool his heels in jail for a day for damaging a forest office. He led his supporters to protest following the death of a person in his constituency after a wild elephant trampled him to death. He got the bail the next day. Now with his resignation, he will be putting pressure on the Congress-led UDF which has asked him to wait for an entry into their camp.

State CPI(M) secretary M.V. Govindan reacting to Anvar’s news of meeting the Speaker, said there was no doubt that he was headed to the UDF as there is no other option for him. “ His resignation is not going to have any impact on Kerala politics,” said Govindan.