BJP Kerala unit president K Surendran said more leaders from the Congress and the CPI(M) will soon join his party.
Published Apr 07, 2023 | 4:57 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 07, 2023 | 4:57 PM
Anil K Antony with BJP national president JP Nadda on Thursday. Union Minister of State for Foreign Affairs V Muraleedharan looks on. (Twitter/Anil K Antony)
Senior Congress leader and former defence minister AK Antony’s son Anil K Antony continued to target the Nehru family on Friday, 7 April, a day after joining the BJP.
“How many more should say that the emperor has no clothes before the grand royals realise,” he asked in a tweet while welcoming former chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh Kiran Kumar Reddy to the BJP.
The reference to “grand royals” — an indirect dig at the Gandhis — was in response to Reddy’s swipe at the Congress leadership, “My king is very intelligent, he doesn’t think on his own, doesn’t listen to anyone’s advice.”
Reddy, who had resigned from Congress last month, joined the BJP at the party’s headquarters in New Delhi on Friday.
Anil, who headed the Digital Media Cell of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, quit the Congress two months ago, after criticising the party’s stand on the controversial documentary film of the BBC on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and slammed the Congress leadership for working for a “single-family” instead of for the country.
Welcome Kiran Kumar Reddy ji to the @BJP4India ! Glad you have also joined the organization that is working for India’s core national interests and for public interests without prejudice and bias.
How many more should say that the emperor has no clothes before the grand royals… https://t.co/ZUKzJ9mPJU— Anil K Antony (Modiyude Kudumbam) (@anilkantony) April 7, 2023
Kerala BJP president K Surendran said that more Congress and CPI(M) leaders would join his party in the coming days. He also claimed that the BJP would form a government in the South Indian state.
The BJP does not have a representative in the state Assembly at present.
On Thursday, Surendran said the “Congress led by Rahul Gandhi is entirely under the clutches of extreme left and anti-India forces. No nationalist can survive in it”. He was welcoming Anil to the party.
In a Facebook post, Surendran claimed that a Congress leader from Pathanamthitta joined the BJP on Friday.
He identified the new entrant as Roy Mathew Changayil, NGO Association’s state committee member and also a member of the Pastor Council of the Malankara Catholic Church’s Pathanamthitta diocese.
Meanwhile, in Thiruvananthapuram, Antony’s younger son Ajith Antony said his brother’s decision was an “impulsive” one and the saffron party would throw him out like “curry leaves” after using him temporarily.
Talking to reporters, Ajith said Anil had not given the slightest hint to the family about his decision, and it was a shock to all of them to see the news flash on channels about Thursday’s development.
He also said his father was devastated after seeing Anil accept the BJP membership.
“Pappa (AK Antony) was seen sitting with utmost pain in a corner of the house. I have never seen him so weak like this in my life. He did not shed tears, that’s all,” Ajith said.
He said his brother would have his reasons to join the BJP and said he used to receive several abusive calls from unknown Congress party workers, which might have hurt him.
“I thought he would stay away from the (Congress) party out of anger, but I never thought that he would go to the BJP. The decision was an unexpected one, ” Anil’s younger brother said.
Terming Anil’s decision to join the BJP as “very impulsive,” Ajith said he believes that he will come back to the Congress party after rectifying his mistakes.
He may continue to remain in the BJP if he feels that it is good for his political future, Ajith said in response to a question.
“He probably would have gone, as he felt that it would be good for him. But, I will say again and again that they (BJP) will throw him out like curry leaves,” he said.
Citing the examples of leaders like Alphons Kannanthanam and Tom Vadakkan, who had joined the BJP a few years ago, Ajith said BJP would use everyone temporarily and throw them out like used curry leaves.
Anil Antony joined the BJP in the presence of Union ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan in New Delhi on Thursday.
An emotionally charged AK Antony had later said in Kerala that it was a “wrong” decision.
“I am deeply pained by Anil’s decision to join the BJP. It was a wrong decision,” the former Defence Minister had said, even as he vowed to fight the BJP and RSS “till his last breath”.
(With PTI inputs)
