Lok Sabha Election 2024: Requested what was completely different, Anil Antony mentioned there are “a number of components”.
New Delhi:
Anil Antony, the son of senior Congress chief AK Antony and the BJP’s candidate from Pathanamthitta, insists the election this time in Kerala could be completely different. The state, which voted for all its 20 seats within the second part of the overall election as we speak, is in monetary misery and there’s huge anti-incumbency, he claimed in an unique interview to NDTV.
Kerala is without doubt one of the few states which has by no means despatched a BJP candidate to parliament. This has been the scenario even after 2014, regardless of the state having 55 per cent voters belonging to the bulk group.
The politics of the state has been bipolar for many years, swing between a Congress and a Left-led alliance. The state can be one of many few that routinely votes out the incumbent authorities. However in 2021, in a stunning break with custom, Kerala gave a second time period to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Now the BJP is attempting to create a distinct segment within the state in its quest of 370 seats.
Requested what was completely different this time, Anil Antony instructed NDTV there are “a number of components”.
“Within the final election when Rahul Gandhi was standing (from Wayanad) for the primary time, a story was created that the UPA was successful. The UPA would come again and Rahul Gandhi could be the Prime Minister. There was some temper shift on the finish of it. Because of this the votes within the meeting election was very completely different from what occurred within the nationwide stage,” he instructed NDTV.
The state, he added, was in “dire monetary misery”, the place the federal government has been unable to pay salaries and pension to its staff. “So from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, in every of the 20 seats, there’s anti-incumbency,” he mentioned.
“Now you discuss to a Congress or a CPM supporter and you will notice the NDA-3 is coming again beneath the management of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,’ he added.
Mr Antony had stop the Congress and switched to the BJP final 12 months. The get together expects him to assist broaden its base within the state, particularly amongst Christians.
Earlier this month, Antony Senior broke his silence over his son becoming a member of the BJP. Anil Antony, he mentioned, ought to and can lose from Pathanamthitta and that it was fallacious for kids of Congress leaders to affix the BJP.
Union minister Rajnath Singh had instantly joined problem. At an election rally for Anil Antony, he mentioned, ‘”All I’ve to inform Mr Antony is: even when he won’t vote for him, he ought to bless him as a father. I used to be stunned by what he mentioned. Possibly he mentioned so due to strain from the Congress”.
In Pathanamthitta, Mr Antony is up in opposition to 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 mentioned fielding him has scuttled the BJP’s possibilities within the constituency. “Nobody is aware of him. The BJP should go round and introduce him to the folks,” mentioned the senior chief, who lately merged his Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) with the BJP.
