Kottayam: A.Ok. Antony represents a political outfit utterly reduce off from India’s socio-political and cultural realities, stated his son and BJP’s Pathanamthitta candidate—Anil Ok. Antony—in an assault on the Congress.
“Personally, he is someone I have the biggest and highest respect for. I do sincerely,” stated Anil. Nevertheless, he added, individuals have continuously rejected the Congress.
In an interview with ThePrint, Anil, who’s gearing up for his debut elections, stated, “In the last two general elections, they didn’t even have enough numbers to have a leader of opposition. Once, it was a party that used to have 400-plus seats; now, you have one-tenth of (those) seats.”
Increasingly individuals are leaving the Congress as a result of it’s reduce off from actuality, reiterated the BJP candidate.
Former defence minister and Kerala chief minister A.Ok. Antony is without doubt one of the Congress veterans recognised as a robust critic of the BJP-led Central authorities. A.Ok. Antony has already stated his son shouldn’t win as a BJP candidate from Pathanamthitta, endorsing Congress candidate and sitting MP Anto Antony.
Anil, the previous nationwide coordinator and convenor of All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) social media and digital communications, joined the BJP in April 2023, two months after he give up the Congress.
On this Lok Sabha polls, Anil will contest from Pathanamthitta, thought of one of many BJP’s “A-class” seats in Kerala because the get together managed to win practically 30% of the votes from the constitueny within the final elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Anil’s marketing campaign on March 15, a day earlier than the election fee introduced the ballot dates.
The BJP candidate, nonetheless, isn’t seeing his first election as a problem. “Everybody has to fight their first election sometime. That is part of the process,” stated Anil, including he has been used to a political ambiance since childhood.
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‘LDF, UDF follow same politics of minority appeasement’
Fielded from the heartland of the 2008 Sabarimala protests, which ended within the Supreme Courtroom ending an 18-year-old restriction on ladies of menstrual age from coming into the shrine, Anil will face off with two seasoned politicians in his maiden electoral battle.
Whereas the Left Democratic Entrance (LDF) has fielded senior Communist Social gathering of India (Marxist) chief and former Kerala finance minister Thomas Isaac, United Democratic Entrance (UDF) has fielded three-time MP Anto Antony from the get together bastion once more.
Nevertheless, Anil stated he’s assured of a victory, claiming that the LDF and UDF, a part of the INDIA bloc, comply with the “same politics of extreme appeasement of certain minorities”.
The BJP chief alleged that each events are engaged in vote financial institution politics and have disregarded the emotions of the bulk.
“We (BJP) are for everybody. We are for 140 crore people. We want to ensure that we move forward to become a developed country. But we do follow the route of law,” he stated.
“The Congress left because of their appeasement politics—they started treating the majority… they started disregarding. Let’s say the sentiment of the majority is not their concern. All their politics revolve around appeasing certain minorities—that’s vote bank politics. It’s not something that we encourage,” he added.
Anil stated Kerala is seeing an increase in radical concepts, and it’s within the BJP’s and nation’s finest pursuits to make sure these don’t destroy the state.
The BJP chief has made claims about Kerala’s radicalism earlier as nicely, and Kerala Police have booked him in a few of these cases.
In October 2023, the Kasaragod district cyber cell booked Anil over a social media put up, displaying a video of Muslim college students arguing with different ladies, with the caption “no bus rides without a burqa in northern Kerala”. Later, it was revealed the scholars had been indignant because the bus didn’t cease the place they needed to get out. Anil has since deleted his put up.
Two months later, the chief was once more booked for selling enmity and spreading misinformation concerning the blasts that killed three on the worldwide conference centre in Kochi’s Kalamassery.
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‘BJP is not trying to reach out to particular community’
Situated within the southern a part of Kerala, the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat has by no means voted for some other political get together however the UDF since 2009, the yr of the formation of the constituency.
The constituency includes 5 meeting segments, Thiruvalla, Ranni, Aranmula, Konni, and Adoor, within the Pathanamthitta district and two Kanjirappally and Poonjar in neighbouring Kottayam district.
Congress’s Anto Antony received the seat within the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with 380,927 votes, adopted by CPI(M)’s Veena George with 3,36,684 votes. BJP chief Ok. Surendran, the BJP’s face of the Sabarimala protests, received 2,97,396 votes—a 28.97 % share. Surendran has moved to Wayanad to contest towards Rahul Gandhi and the Communist Social gathering of India’s Annie Raja this election.
Kottayam district has a 49.81 % Hindu inhabitants, adopted by 43.48 % Christians and 6.41 % Muslims, and Pathanamthitta has 56.28 % Hindus, 39.03 % Christians, and 4.58 % Muslims, in keeping with the 2011 Census.
Anil would possibly assist the BJP win over Christian voters within the constituency.
Anil, nonetheless, informed ThePrint, “BJP is not trying to reach out to any one community or any particular community. We are trying to reach out to every single Indian.”
The opposition events have created a story concerning the BJP being anti-Christian, however the get together is in energy in lots of states like Goa, which has the best variety of Christian voters, Anil stated.
Kerala is the “aberration and exception”, however the bottom actuality is altering slowly, added Anil.
“Yesterday, the Believers (Eastern) Church supported us (Anil in Pathanamthitta). Publically, this is the first time the church supported a BJP candidate. This is a start. Over time, more and more churches will support us,” he stated.
That is the primary time in Kerala’s historical past {that a} church physique has prolonged assist to a BJP candidate.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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