Former Union defence minister and Congress leader A.K. Antony lamented over his son’s decision to join the BJP, but Anil A. Antony says he made his move after putting a lot of thought into the future. The 37-year-old tech entrepreneur blames the “uncultured environment” in the Congress as the main reason for him to “slowly disassociate from the functioning of the party”. A post-graduate in management science and engineering from Stanford University, Anil held the post of national coordinator of the social media and digital communications department of the Indian National Congress, before his exit from the grand old party. Since January 2019, he had been the convenor of the digital media cell of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee as well. He was assigned to this post after delivering analytical and survey work for the Congress before the 2017 Gujarat elections. Anil, however, says he had to face concerted cyber attacks from a section of the party multiple times, since then. In an exclusive interaction with THE WEEK, Anil Antony talks about his past, the cyber attacks he had faced and his father is now facing and also how his decision would affect his inter-familial relationships.
Excerpts:
It has been a few days since how joined the BJP. How is your experience in the new party?
I just joined. It is a decision I had taken after a lot of time. It is not a decision which is, [an] instantaneous one after I resigned from the Congress party in my roles in January after the BBC controversy. I put a lot of thought into my future, and I believe that the Bharatiya Janata Party is the only party that is nationalistic with a vision to take this country forward in a very planned manner. The prime minister has the vision to take India from where it is right now to a developed nation by 2047. So it is a party with a vision and a plan. I believe that a person with my experience and expertise and interest, I believe this is a party where I can contribute towards national interest and national transformation. And, I believe in the prime minister's vision. So, I decided that I will join the party. And I thank the leadership, the central and the state leadership, for allowing me to join the party on the party's foundation day itself. I am meeting some of the senior leaders. I am meeting the workers. I am getting their blessings and guidance. And overall, I'm very happy in this environment because everybody is dedicated. They all have a deep love for India. They all have perfect faith in the prime minister's vision. And they are all working every day to forward that vision and take India forward. So overall, it is a very safe environment.
You are someone with a lot of technology experience and expertise, especially in AI-based applications. So, has there been any talk about the kind of roles you will be handling in the party?
All that is decided by the party, the central leadership and the state leadership. I had conversations with them. But they will discuss it with each other, and decide that. It is not up to me to decide. But I do believe that the current government led by Prime Minister Modi is one of the governments that has used technology in a very efficient manner to transform the country. You look at schemes like Aadhaar. Using Aadhaar as a platform, great applications have been created that are delivering a number of services. You have applications like the UPI, which has become the world's largest payment platform right now. You have applications like CoWin, which has been a super success story in India; a very efficient platform that has now become a global standard in many countries. Just like UPI, many countries are accepting it, and are adopting it. You have a tremendous amount of indigenization projects that are going on there, from sectors like semiconductors to space to defence to communication. Suddenly, the industrial and manufacturing capacity of the country is tremendously increasing. And now we are becoming leaders in exports and also in high technology. So, there is a tremendous amount of work that is happening in this country, [about] which, as an ordinary Indian citizen, I am very happy and proud. And now with technology as a background, I believe that I will be able to contribute towards the prime minister's vision.
Now about your days in Congress. You were brought into an organisational post in 2019 after you helped the party with the 2017 Gujarat elections. But now the party says you didn't do anything for Congress.
I don't feel any negativity towards them. I quit the party. The Congress party is a part of my past, not my present or my future. I have joined another party, which I believe is the only national party in this India, which is nationalistic, with a clear vision to take this country forward. And I believe that I have taken the right step. I have contributed very effectively to the Congress party whenever I could. However, I am not at all surprised by the negative thought processes of the Congress. You can forget about me. I only started working for the party in the last three, or four years. But there are people like Ghulam Nabi Azad Sahib, Jyotiraditya [Scindia] ji, Himanta Biswas ji, and Kiran Kumar Reddy. Yesterday, Mr Rahul Gandhi had put a particular tweet about all of us. All these are people who have contributed 20, 30, 40 and 50 years for the party and the country. And since they have left the party, Mr Rahul Gandhi and his team thinks that even they haven't contributed. This is the attitude of these people. So, I am not at all surprised by any of these allegations. I am sure it will keep on coming. But even when I was in Congress, there used to be a particular section within that party that used to attack me, plant stories against me in various news outlets, used to conduct concerted cyber attacks against me. At that point in time, it used to hurt me a bit because these were all supposed to be my colleagues, my co-workers. And I felt that that was a kind of betrayal. But now they are my political opponents. And this is expected of them; nothing is surprising about it.
Do you think that this sort of concerted attack was conducted against you because many in Congress were feeling threatened by you coming into the party and getting elevated to a crucial post?
The Congress party is my past. It is not my present or my future. I have completely quit this party. I am working for a new party, the only national party that I believe can take this country forward in an inclusive manner with a clear vision. And I am very happy where I am. So now I don't want to keep commenting on the Congress party and their internal function. There are many problems in that party, starting right from the top of the leadership. And it percolates to every level. That party is in a downward spiral. I sincerely don't think that the party, in its current format, will even exist after the 2024 elections because the people of this country have been again and again rejecting that party. [In] 2014 and 2019 elections, the BJP, led by Prime Minister Modi, won a mandate which is two of the largest mandates in modern India's history. The Congress had its worst two showings. And in between, there were many state elections. The results were very similar. In the [recently held] North-eastern elections, the Congress was reduced to an electoral nonentity there. So, this trajectory is nothing unsurprising. The young people of India do not see Congress as a viable alternative in any manner. They don't resonate with this Congress party. They don't identify with this Congress party. And they have full faith in Prime Minister Modi's leadership. They have full faith in his vision and the BJP. I don't think, since I have left it, my role to give Congress any advice or course-correct them any longer.
Your father, A.K. Antony is still with the Congress. He is one of the senior-most leaders of the grand old party. But now he is also facing social media attacks from the party cadres. And the party’s Kerala leadership had to say the cadres must stop this because he is one of our most respectable leaders and he shouldn't be attacked like this.
Nothing surprising about any of these things. Even when I was in Congress, there was a particular section that was running concerted cyber attacks against me. Right now, it is against my father. Even senior leaders who are accomplished, who are mass leaders with public appeal, like Shashi Tharoor, and K. Muraleedharan, they are all facing cyber attacks from their cyber warriors. Their cyber warriors have no discipline. They don't even have a sense of what the party is. It is just a bunch of people with very little political understanding who believe that throwing muck at people is the way to work for the party. This uncultured environment is very negative. And these are all reasons which made me slowly disassociate from the functioning of the party.
Do you think the kind of respect that was not offered to you in Congress is now being offered by the BJP for the expertise you have and the kind of technological experience you bring?
I believe in the prime minister's vision for the country. I believe in the trajectory he is taking this country in. I believe that there is a clear 25-year roadmap for the prime minister; over the next 25 years, he wants to develop India into a developed country where every single citizen of this country will have avenues of social and economic mobility and newer opportunities, employment opportunities; the life will better for all the 140 crore people in this country without bias. So, I joined the party hoping that I can also be a part of this nation building process and the national transformation process. And I'm very sure that I will be able to do something meaningful for the country from this party.
When you joined the BJP, it was projected as how the BJP is welcoming minority sections, especially Christians. How do you see that? Is it a message that the party is now more open-minded to minorities?
Prime Minister Modi doesn't differentiate between minority and majority. He sees everybody as Indians. He sees 140 crore Indians. And he is working on policies and schemes that can take all the 140-crore people forward. I joined this party as a young Indian, which I believe represents the vast majority of this country. And as a young Indian, I joined the party so that I can contribute towards the prime minister's vision of nation building.
You joined the BJP on Maundy Thursday, an important day for Christians. And, one of the earliest reactions from the Congress leadership was that you have become a Judas. What do you have to say about that? Also, that day was your brother's birthday and it was projected in the media that it was a sad day for the family. So how would this decision of you affect your inter-familial relationships?
It will not affect us in any manner, because we are independent people with very independent thoughts, beliefs, and political beliefs. But above all, we are all family. We have deep love and affection for each other. We have the highest regard and respect for our parents. So personal life is very different. Political thought processes are very different. As far as personal equations are concerned, we have deep love and affection for each other. Nothing changes. But politically, I believe that I am taking a step which is the right step for me to contribute to this country's interest.
Were you able to have a talk with your father and brother after this episode?
As a family, we are always in touch. We are in conversation. But my father never used to discuss politics in our house. And even now, we don't discuss politics. We discuss everything other than politics.
