By P. Sreekumaran
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) thinks it has made a prize catch by getting the elder son of senior Congress leader A K Antony, Anil Antony to join the party. But the ground reality being what it is, the party will realize sooner than later, that such tinkering won’t fetch the saffron camp Christian votes.
The party may have won the perception battle for the present. The real battle on the ground is however, tougher. Party leaders are trumpeting that Anil’s entry will trigger an exodus, especially of young leaders, from the Congress camp to the BJP bandwagon. That is highly unlikely.
True, the BJP is pulling out all the stops to ensure the support of minorities in Kerala to win at least few seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has had meetings with Christian leaders. The Christian-wooing stems from the realization that without the support of minorities, the BJP won’t be able to make its presence felt in Kerala in the parliamentary polls in 2024. Anil Antony’s entry, the party believes, will mark the beginning of a rethink on the part of the Christian community, which has been backing the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and, the CPI(M)headed Left Democratic Front (LDF) until now.
But Anil is not even a political lightweight in Kerala politics. He began his association with the Congress only in 2019 by working with the party’s Digital Media Cell. Later he became chairman and then AICC’s media cell coordinator. But it is a fact that even Congress leaders were not happy with his performance. Being the son of A K Antony was the sole USP of Anil. He has no independent political base in the State. This being the case, the BJP’s hopes that Anil will be able to attract a big slice of young Congress voters to the BJP won’t fructify.
Despite the BJP leaders’ vigorous wooing the Christian community in Kerala continues to be wary of the saffron leadership. Attacks against the community continue unabated in various parts of the country. It may be mentioned that the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi saw a massive protest by various Christian organisations against such attacks. These attacks will have to come to a halt before the Christian voters start gravitating towards the BJP. That has not happened despite the claims of BJP leaders that such attacks are only isolated incidents. The BJP leaders will have to walk the talk before the party gain the trust of the Christian community.
That said, it must be stated that the Congress has been taken by surprise by Anil’s joining the BJP. His father is, of course deeply hurt by the son’s ‘political perfidy’ as some Congress leaders put it. But he has said that it was a wrong decision which has pained him beyond mention. But he will remain with the Congress and die a Congressman, the Congress stalwart asserted.
Meanwhile, Antony’s younger son, Ajit Antony has frowned upon his brother’s action. Ajit said Anil will become a victim of BJP’s use-and-discard policy. In support of his claim, Ajit referred to the fate which has befallen metro man E Sreedharan. The BJP has turned its back on the metro man after he lost the election to the Lok Sabha, Ajit pointed out. He also alluded to the plight of other Congress leaders like Tom Vadakkan who crossed over to the BJP. Even Alfons Kannanthanam is in limbo these days. The best course for Anil, therefore, is to return to the Congress camp, Ajit opined.
Be that as it may, the Congress must undertake serious introspection in the wake of Anil’s exit from the party. The main reason for the Congress’s vulnerability to poaching by BJP is the ideological dilution the party has suffered. It is a sad fact that in its anxiety to outsmart the BJP, the Congress has embraced soft Hindutva with disastrous results. It has resulted in the minorities, both Christians and Muslims, leaving the Congress-led UDF. Consequently, the party-led front paid a heavy price by losing the 2021 assembly elections. The perception that the Congress lacks the stomach for a full-fledged fight against the forces of communalism growing. It has also caused a rethink at least in a section of Muslims that when it comes to battling the BJP, the CPI(M)-led LDF the best bet. The LDF alone has the political will and organizational strength to halt the onward march of saffron forces. If the Congress continues to wallow in its ideological ambivalence, then greater and faster gravitation of Muslims towards the LDF is inevitable.
This being the harsh reality, the Congress has no option but to regain its ideological vigour and organizational strength. The sooner the party bends its energies in pursuit of this goal, the better. Failure to do so would only hasten the party’s political irrelevance. And that can only result in the BJP gaining traction and heft in a State steeped in the secular ethos. A consummation secular forces cannot afford at this crucial political juncture. (IPA Service)