AK Antony's son Anil Antony joins BJP after exiting Congress over BBC documentary

Anil Antony, former Congress member, joined the BJP on Thursday, after quitting the grand old party in January this year. Son of former minister and Congress leader AK Antony, Anil Antony had resigned from Congress after allegedly receiving threats over his objection to the controversial documentary released by BBC on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was inducted into the BJP during a press conference in New Delhi in presence of Union Minister Piyush Goyal and others. 

Expressing his elation for Antony joining the BJP on the party's foundation day, Goyal said, "He's a multi-faceted personality. I was very impressed when I saw the credentials of Shree Anil Antony Ji." He also hoped that Antony would add to the growth of the party in the years to come. 

#WATCH | Congress leader & former Defence minister AK Antony's son, Anil Antony joins BJP in Delhi pic.twitter.com/qJYBe40xuY

— ANI (@ANI)

Speaking after joining the party, Antony said, "some people in Congress think their Dharma is to work for a family. I think my Dharma is to work for the nation." He also lauded PM Modi for "his clear vision to place India as a prominent pole in the multi-polar world" and commended the BJP members working for the party. He also expressed his willingness to contribute toward nation building and called on others to join him. 

"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 (sic),” Anil Antony had tweeted announcing his split from Congress.

Anil Antony explains why he left Congress

During an exclusive interview with Republic TV, the former AICC’s digital media coordinator said that he objected to the BBC documentary on the Gujarat 2002 riots when PM Modi was the Chief Minister. Antony had voiced his objection on Twitter where he called out the "master brains" behind the documentary who "were the same master brain behind the Iraq war where lakhs of people were killed and displaced."

His tweets apparently upset some of the Congress members who hurled abuses and threats toward Antony. "I was threatened with expulsion from the party. Some people very close to very top leadership said that If I don't give an apology I will be expelled from the party. End of the day, I was very clear that I was not doing anything wrong. My Facebook and WhatsApp messages were filled with so many expletive messages," Antony said in the interview.