New Delhi, April 06, 2023: Anil Antony, the son of Congress veteran AK Antony on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was inducted into the party in the presence of Union ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan.
“Today, several Congress workers and leaders believe it is their ’dharma’ to work for a family. My ‘dharma’ is to work for the country”, Anil Antony said after joining the BJP.
Anil Antony, who held the position of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) digital media convenor and the national coordinator of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), had quit the Grand Old Party following row over his opposition to the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Despite large differences with BJP, I think those in India placing views of BBC, a UK state sponsored channel with a long history of prejudices,and of Jack Straw, the brain behind the Iraq war, over 🇮🇳 institutions is setting a dangerous precedence, will undermine our sovereignty”, he had tweeted, sparking controversy.
He had said that his decision was prompted by the "intolerant calls" for him to retract or change his tweet and the "abuses" -- from even within the party -- against him on social media.
The BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ chronicling the events which transpired during the 2002 Gujarat riots when Narendra Modi was the chief minister, had sparked a massive row in India. The Centre had got the documentary pulled down from YouTube and other social media platforms, the move criticised by the opposition. The Congress had opposed the move too, calling it censorship.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times