Anil Antony gives a big shock to father and the Congress

By joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, Anil Antony, the elder son of veteran Congress leader, A.K. Antony has taken a step which many of his erstwhile colleagues would find it hard to understand. The Congress and the BJP are ideologically opposite to each other and Anil Antony has been reared up in an atmosphere where secularism and the core beliefs of the grand old party were a part of his psyche. Therefore, when he jumped ship, many Congressmen were left wondering why he would do so and tried to bring out similarities regarding his “betrayal’’ with that of Brutus vis-a-vis Julius Caesar. On his part, Anil has said that he saw no hope of remaining in the Congress since it had no vision for the future and was completely disconnected with the people, particularly young India, which constitutes 65 percent of our population. Reacting to the reaction of his father who said that he would die as a Congressman, Anil said that personal matters were different from his political beliefs and pursuits. His younger brother Ajith, while expressing shock over this “defection’’, said that his brother would be thrown out of the BJP like “curry leaves’’. The BJP only knows how to use people and once their utility is over, they discard them, he noted. Many political analysts believe that Anil has joined the BJP because the Saffron Brigade wants to woo the Christian voters in his home State, Kerala. Whether this happens or not, is something only time would determine but he is certainly a “trophy’’ for the BJP, given his father’s close proximity to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, for whom, he was always the voice she wanted to be heard in any crucial meetings of the party. However, it would be important to point out that at one point in his life, AK Antony too had deserted the Congress to form his own regional outfit which forged an alliance with the Left Front. Anil Antony’s move also elicited a sharp reaction from Rahul Gandhi, who lashed out at him as well as Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Himanta Biswa Sarma and former Andhra Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, accusing them of being in league with businessman Gautam Adani. Political analysts wondered what made Rahul react in such a manner, since those who have opted for a life outside the Congress have done it in accordance with their own wishes and thinking. Anil Antony had given indication of his disillusionment with the Congress leadership when he resigned from all positions in the organization following the Congress stand on the controversial BBC documentary. The 37-year old Kerala leader hopes to contribute to the country through his association with the BJP. His allegiance switch has triggered off speculation whether more people from the Congress would join the BJP. In fact, the BJP has been pursuing the “Veebheeshan strategy’’ since 2014 and has used prominent leaders of other parties, particularly the Congress to defeat their erstwhile outfits. The strategy achieved success when Himanta Biswa Sarma managed to virtually eliminate the Congress from the North East. Questions are also being raised within the Congress as to why the new president, Malikkarjun Kharge has not constituted either his new team nor declared the members of the new Working Committee. He is giving an impression of being a rubber stamp, a perception that he should correct at the earliest, if he wants to succeed in his new position. The practice of adhocism continues and could prove counter-productive unless Kharge puts his stamp of authority on the organization he heads now. So far as Anil Antony is concerned, it reminds one of the famous lines from Mario Puzo’s `The Godfather’’ that the “Saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from one’s enemies’’.