In what has become a big setback for Congress, veteran Congress leader AK Antony's son Anil K Antony has on Thursday - April 6, joined the BJP, months after quitting the Congress party. The shocking switchover for Congress has drawn huge attention with AK Antony expressing that his son's decision to join BJP hurts him. 

As a big shot in the Congress party, AK Antony had served as the Union Minister of Defence from 2006 to 2014. He had also served as Kerala's Chief Minister. Currently, Antony is discharging the duties as the Chairman of the Congress party's Disciplinary Action Committee and a member of the party's highest decision making body, Congress Working Committee and the party's Central Election Committee. 

In January this year, AK Antony's son Anil Antony had quitted the Congress party after slamming the party's stand on the controversial documentary film released by the BBC on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Anil Antony, who was leading the Digital Media Cell of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, criticized the Congress leadership for working for a single family, instead of working for the country. 

On Thursday, Anil Antony joined the BJP in New Delhi in the presence of Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and V Muraleedharan. Welcoming Anil Antony to the party, Piyush Goyal said that Anil is a very grounded political worker who is convinced that the BJP cares for the country and shared the Prime Minister's vision of sustainable growth. 

Responding to a question on whether he has consulted his father AK Antony before joining the BJP, Anil Antony said, "This is not about personalities, this is about difference of opinion and ideas. I strongly believe that I have taken the right step. My respect for my father will remain the same." 

Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, AK Antony said, "Anil’s decision to join BJP has hurt me. It is a very wrong decision. India’s base is unity and religious harmony. After 2014, Modi govt came to power, they’re systematically diluting diversity and secularism. BJP believes only in uniformity, they’re destroying the constitutional values of the country."