Kerala Congress leader AK Antony’s wife Elizabeth Antony has said that her prayers and consultation with the priest of a church helped make her reservations towards the Bharatiya Janata Party vanish, The Indian Express reported.
She also credited intercessory prayers for the political opportunity that her son Anil Antony received in the BJP. In a video shared widely on social media, Elizabeth Antony can be heard saying that she was aware of Anil ANtony’s decision to resign from Congress and join the BJP in April.
She made the statements at a recent event at Kreupasanam Marian Shrine, a Christian retreat centre in Kerala’s Alappuzha.
After Anil Antony joined the BJP, his father had said that it was a wrong move and that he was hurt.
However, in the video, Elizabeth Antony says that AK Antony was calm and gently accepted the situation. “Everything has gone smoothly after the intervention of Mathavu [Saint Mary, mother of Jesus],” she said, according to The Indian Express.
She also said that both her sons wanted to join politics, but they received a setback after Congress adopted a resolution against dynasty politics.
“It became obvious that his [AK Antony’s] children could not enter politics,” she said. “Despite having a high degree, even at the age of 39, his political career was not taking off, so I prayed for him whilst crying.”
She said that Anil Antony received a call from the prime minister’s office after her prayers. “He was informed that the BJP would offer him new opportunities,” she said.
On her political ideology, she said that she went to a pastor at a local church to speak about her disdain towards the BJP, who told her to not pray for his return to the Congress as he would have good fortune there, Asianet News reported.
“That made my mind calm, she said. “Hearing that, all my anger and reservations about the BJP were removed. On the spot, I took heart from his words.”
The Congress had, in May last year, announced the “one family, one ticket” rule with an exception for family members who have been in the party for at least five years.
Anil Antony, who was the digital media convenor of the Kerala unit of Congress and the national coordinator of the All India Congress Committee, resigned from the party in January, days after criticising the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots.
He had called the BBC a “state-sponsored channel with a long history of prejudices” against India and had said that placing the views of the documentary above those of Indian institutions undermines the country’s sovereignty.
In another tweet, Anil had said that it was a matter of hypocrisy that those “supporting a trek to promote love” – an apparent reference to the Bharat Jodo Yatra – were abusing him for his views on the BBC documentary.
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