'Anil Antony not the only one...more leaders to join'

NEW DELHI: The BJP's Kerala chief K Surendran said more leaders will follow former Union minister and Congress leader AK Antony's son, Anil Antony, to the saffron camp.

Anil Anthony, who left the Congress earlier, formally joined the BJP on Thursday, in the presence of Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan. Surendran and senior party leaders Tarun Chugh and Anil Baluni were also present at his joining.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Surendran, to a question on whether Anil Anthony's joining would boost the BJP's prospects in the southern state and boost its acceptability among Christian voters, said, "AK Antony is senior Congress leader, who held key positions in the party. Today, his son Anil Antony took membership of the BJP.

More Congress leaders will be joining BJP soon." "Anil Antony is one of many Opposition leaders to have joined the BJP. Even the erudite and highly educated leaders in the Opposition camp are now joining the BJP. We are apprpoaching several other leaders in the Congress and the Left to join us," he added.

Hoping for a better vote share in the southern state where the saffron party hasn't yet managed to any significant electoral inroads, the BJP state chief said, "Our vote share in Kerala wasn't much the last time. However, this time we hope to bag a bigger share of Christian votes as the Christian community has demonstrated that it has full faith in Modi-ji's work."

"We are running several campaigns in the state. The 'Happy Easter Ghar Ghar Chalo' campaign will be conducted across the state from April 9. During this campaign, we will make an effort to connect Christians with the BJP, which will significantly impact our vote share," he added.

On the Congress stalwart's statement that he was pained at his son joining the BJP, Surendran added, "AK Antony has been with the Congress for six decades and it is only natural for him to feel bad if his son joins the BJP. Anil Antony thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his induction into the BJP."

Formerly the coordinator of the Congress' social media cell in Kerala, Anil resgined from all party posts in January, after coming out in support of Prime Minister Modi amid the row over the BBC documentary series.

Coming down hard on the BBC over the documentary series, Anil termed the British public broadcaster as "a state sponsored channel with a long history of prejudices" against India.

"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 Indian institutions is setting a dangerous precedence, will undermine our sovereignty," Anthony tweeted. He later claimed to have received threat calls and hate messages "through the night".

While posting about his resignation on Twitter, Antony mocked the Congress saying he received intolerant calls to retract a tweet by those "fighting for free speech".

"I have resigned from my roles in @incindia, @INCKerala. Intolerant calls to retract a tweet, by those fighting for free speech. I refused. @facebook wall of hate/abuses by ones supporting a trek to promote love! Hypocrisy thy name is! Life goes on," Anil K Antony said in a tweet.

The development is being seen as a big setback for the Congress in Kerala ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.