Anil Antony, the son of veteran Congress leader AK Antony, has been made the national secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Anil had joined the BJP just a few months ago in April this year. The news of his appointment came alongside party president JP Nadda’s announcement of new national office bearers to lead the party.
As per the rejigged list, VP Abdullakutty has been retained as vice president. BL Santhosh from Karnataka will also keep his position as the national general secretary (organisation). Other prominent names in the list include former Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay as general secretary, and MLC and former Aligarh Muslim University VC Tariq Mansoor as vice president. CT Ravi, who had previously served as the national general secretary in charge of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Goa, has been dropped from the list of office bearers. It is being speculated that the move comes ahead of his potential appointment as Karnataka BJP president.
Anil Antony — who had previously served as the digital media convenor of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee and national coordinator of the All India Congress Committee social media and digital communications cell — quit his roles in the party in January this year, after receiving flak for a tweet questioning the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Later in April, Anil joined the BJP. He had said on the occasion that Congress workers believe that working for one family is their religion. “For me, working for the country is my religion,” he said.
Anil’s father, AK Antony, called the decision “immature”. “Since 2014, after the Narendra Modi government came to power, there have been planned attempts to destroy these values. The BJP government has turned the country into an autocracy,” Antony had said.