New Delhi: Anil Antony, the son of veteran Congress leader AK Antony joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday.
Anil joined the BJP at party headquarters in presence of Union Minister PIyush Goyal, Minister of State (MoS) from Kerrala, V Murlidharan & party’s Kerala unit chief K Surendran.
He is likely to address a press conference later in the day, reports said.
#WATCH | Congress leader & former Defence minister AK Antony’s son, Anil Antony joins BJP in Delhi pic.twitter.com/qJYBe40xuY
— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2023
Anil Antony quit the Congress two months ago, after his objection to controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political life & 2002 Gujarat riots, created ripples within his own party.
Anil was the in-charge of Congress social media cell in Kerala, before putting in his papers.
While welcoming Anil Antony in the party, Union Minister Piyush Goyal called him a multi-faceted personality and also expressed confidence that his entry will help party to increase its footprints in Southern India.
Anil said that he was highly inspired by PM Modi’s leadership and believed that India’s interests were being best safeguarded under him, in a multi-polar world.
How Anil Antony fell out with Congress?
Anil Antony’s differences with Congress started when he criticized BBC documentary and said that the British broadcaster was transgressing into sovereign rights of a country. However, the party’s stand was totally against it as this was a rare political ammunition for the embattled Congress to target the Modi govt.
He not only called the BBC documentary a ‘piece of fiction & prejudice’ against India and also challenged his own party’s stance against ‘foreign interference’. Later, he said that he was being ‘pressured’ to retract his statement and called for deeper introspection within own party.
After his resignation from Congress, he has been vocal in his critic of the party.
Anil, in his recent tweets, dropped enough hints of cozying up to the saffron party while launching veiled attack on Congress & Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking on his conviction, Antony said that the Congress was focusing on the ‘bloopers of a person’ while losing out on real issues before the nation.
