Team News Riveting
New Delhi, April 6
Anil Anthony, son of former Congress minister in Union Government and most trusted confidant of Gandhi-Nehru family A K Anthony, on Thursday threw surprise and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The 37-year-old elder son of former Defence Minister and former Chief Minister of Kerala joined the BJP in the presence of Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan, Kerala BJP chief K Surendran, and senior party leaders Tarun Chugh and Anil Baluni at the party headquarters in New Delhi. Eyeing to expand its base in Kerala, the BJP has launched a series of efforts to reach out to the Christian community, a minority but influential group, realising the need for an ally to break through.
The BJP look forward to encash the development in poll-bound Karnataka where the Christian community and the Church leadership are influential. The party managers feel Anil’s entry into the party will blunt the fears among the minority community and attract more youngsters from the community to the party.
Earlier, the party had tried to project various Christian faces, including former minister and bureaucrat K J Alphons and former Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan, to gain a toehold in the community but its electoral prospects have not improved significantly.
Anil had resigned from all posts he held in the Congress party, i.e., Convener of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) Digital Media and National Co-coordinator of All India Congress Committee (AICC) Social Media and Digital Communications Cell on 25 January this year, days after his own party members attacked him over his stand on the BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A day before resigning he had said that despite him having large differences with the BJP, those who support and place the views of the British broadcaster and of former UK foreign secretary Jack Straw, the ‘brain behind the Iraq war’ (involving the US-led coalition in 2003) over Indian institutions are setting a dangerous precedence.
Welcoming Anil, Goyal said, “Anil termed the BBC documentary an attack on the sovereignty of the country. He stood up for India and for national pride. I complement him for his courage and conviction to stand for the country”.
AK Antony said that the decision by his son Anil Antony to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has caused him extreme pain. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Antony, who is 82, said that he is in his last days and will remain loyal to the Indian National Congress (INC) till his last breath.
