synopsis

Senior Congress leader AK Antony's son Anil K Antony resigned from the Congress party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in April. This is the first time Antony met PM Modi in person in New Delhi after joining the saffron party.

New Delhi: New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader A K Antony's son Anil Antony who joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in April is set to be active in politics ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The BJP leader met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday (July 20) at the Parliament in New Delhi. This is the first time that Anil Antony held a discussion with PM Modi after joining the saffron party. According to reports, he briefed about Kerala's political situation to the Prime Minister. 

Also read: Veteran Congress leader A K Antony's son Anil Antony joins BJP

Anil quit the position he held in the Congress party in January this year after his Twitter post criticising the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots irked the party. Anil was asked to retract the tweet. However, he did not do so and said, "Intolerant calls to retract a tweet by those fighting for free speech."

He added that while there can be internal conflicts inside the nation, outside organisations shouldn't be permitted to create chaos. Anil had handled the digital communications of the Congress party's Kerala unit. His remarks came at a time when the Kerala unit of the Congress party announced that it would hold screenings of the documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots across the state.

After switching to the BJP, Anil Antony had taken part in YUVAM event that was addressed by PM Modi in Kochi, Ernakulam.  It is reported that the move to bring Anil Antony to the BJP was made as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's special interest.  

Also read: PM Modi to arrive in Kochi on April 25; BJP leader Anil Antony to join