New Delhi:

Anil Antony, the son of senior Congress leader AK Antony and the BJP’s candidate from Pathanamthitta, insists the election this time in Kerala would be different. The state, which voted for all its 20 seats in the second phase of the general election today, is in financial distress and there is massive anti-incumbency, he claimed in an exclusive interview to NDTV.

Kerala is one of the few states which has never sent a BJP candidate to parliament. This has been the situation even after 2014, despite the state having 55 per cent voters belonging to the majority community.

The politics of the state has been bipolar for decades, swing between a Congress and a Left-led alliance. The state is also one of the few that routinely votes out the incumbent government. But in 2021, in a shocking break with tradition, Kerala gave a second term to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Now the BJP is trying to create a niche in the state in its quest of 370 seats.

Asked what was different this time, Anil Antony told NDTV there are “multiple factors”.

“In the last election when Rahul Gandhi was standing (from Wayanad) for the first time, a narrative was created that the UPA was winning. The UPA would come back and Rahul Gandhi would be the Prime Minister. There was some mood shift at the end of it. This is why the votes in the assembly election was very different from what happened in the national stage,” he told NDTV.

The state, he added, was in “dire financial distress”, where the government has been unable to pay salaries and pension to its employees. “So from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, in each of the 20 seats, there is anti-incumbency,” he said.  

“Now you talk to a Congress or a CPM supporter and you will see the NDA-3 is coming back under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,’ he added.

Mr Antony had quit the Congress and switched to the BJP last year. The party expects him to help expand its base in the state, especially among Christians.  

Earlier this month, Antony Senior broke his silence over his son joining the BJP. Anil Antony, he said, should and will lose from Pathanamthitta and that it was wrong for children of Congress leaders to join the BJP.

Union minister Rajnath Singh had immediately joined issue. At an election rally for Anil Antony, he said, ‘”All I have to tell Mr Antony is: even if he might not vote for him, he should bless him as a father. I was surprised by what he said. Maybe he said so because of pressure from the Congress”.

In Pathanamthitta, Mr Antony is up against Congress’s Anto Antony, the three-time sitting MP and the Left’s TM Thomas Issac, a former finance minister of the state.

His candidature has upset senior politician PC George, who said fielding him has scuttled the BJP’s chances in the constituency.  “No one knows him. The BJP will have to go around and introduce him to the people,” said the senior leader, who recently merged his Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) with the BJP.

Kottayam (Kerala):

A day after senior politician PC George expressed his displeasure over the BJP fielding Anil K Antony as the candidate from Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency, the latter visited him at his house and held discussions even as the party’s state chief censured Mr George for expressing his views publicly.

Mr George, who recently joined the BJP, had strongly expressed his displeasure on Sunday over the candidature of Mr Antony from Pathanamthitta, saying the move has scuttled the party’s chances to win the polls.

He had also attacked BDJS leader Thushar Vellappally and SNDP Yogam leader Vellappally Natesan, alleging that they had conspired to scuttle his chances to contest in Pathanamthitta.

BJP state chief K Surendran said Mr George should choose his words carefully.

After a brief meeting with Mr George at his residence at Erattupetta, Mr Antony said the “fight” between them was a media creation and he came to seek the blessings of the senior politician.

“It was the media which claimed that there were issues between us. I was given a responsibility by the party. I will ensure that I fulfill it. PC George has assured me all his support. I will be following his advice also,” said the son of the former Defence Minister and Congress stalwart AK Antony.

He also told reporters the media that he knew Mr George from his childhood and was close with the family.

A visibly irritated Mr George had claimed yesterday that he had better chances in Pathanamthitta as he has got the support of the bishops and the Christian community, which has a substantial presence in the area.

Declaring that Anil Antony has no experience and is a complete stranger to the constituency, Mr George had said “no one knows him and the BJP will have to go around and introduce him to the people”.
But Mr Surendran today dismissed his statement and said Anil Antony is a well-known person and will win from the constituency.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)