BBC documentary: Anil's remark shocks Congress coterie; party keenly watching his next move

Thiruvananthapuram: The controversial tweet by Anil Antony against the BBC documentary on Narendra Modi has come as an unexpected shock to the state Congress fraternity.

While the state leadership was caught in a catch-22 position over initiating action against the son of veteran Congress leader A K Antony, Anil himself quit all posts he held in the party.

The Congress leaders in the state were never too fond of Anil who also couldn’t muster the faith of the Central leadership. That left him facing the wrath of Congress cyber quarters who hurled harsh jibes at him for taking a pro-BJP stand by tweeting against the documentary criticising Modi over the latter’s handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Anil too responded that his resignation from the party post was not over a divergent viewpoint, but the language used against him by certain quarters and the leadership not restraining the same.

Like his father, Anil took the decision to resign in haste. A K Antony is yet to respond on the episode. Surely, the veteran leader won’t want to face charges that his son publicly aired an opinion in support of the Sangh Parivar.

It was Antony himself who gave the diktat in the KPCC executive committee that Congress leaders should only have the Lok Sabha polls in mind and there should not be any unnecessary controversies. Now, however, his words have come to haunt him.

A man of few words, Antony played a major role in Mallikarjun Kharge’s ascendancy to the Congress chief post, even though Anil backed rival candidate Shashi Tharoor. Antony shared his disappointment with his close circles by saying he wasn't going to interfere in the interests of the new generation.

The Congress fraternity always considered Anil as the son of A K Antony. It was the same feeling that was behind Mullappally Ramachandran appointing Anil Antony, a Stanford University graduate and an Artificial Intelligence professional, as the KPCC digital media convener.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, though Anil claimed to have done everything possible to promote the party, another cyber team from the Congress itself came out against him in the open for failing to meet expectations. That led to his waning interest in state politics.

Anil in recent times maintained his relationship with Congress through his close association with Shashi Tharoor, who is the national president of the Professionals’ Congress. But Tharoor too disowned Anil Antony this time by completely rejecting his opinion on the BBC documentary.

Currently, Congress finds itself in a tottering situation where there are many to ignite matters out of context but none to find a remedy. Speculations over Anil's next move have started doing the rounds. Anil stated that he didn’t consult his father before taking the decision to step down. But the Congress cadres surely expect him to seek the advice of his father if he intends to play a longer inning in politics.