Veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony bid farewell to parliamentary politics and Delhi on Wednesday after spending 38 years in five stints in the Rajya Sabha, where his final tenure ended on April 7. At 81 years, with a formidable CV behind him, the former Defence Minister want to slowly withdraw from national politics too.
For now, he will continue in all positions within the Congress, including the Congress Working Committee (CWC).
He came to Delhi for the first time in 1973 as a 33-year-old Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president (elect) to meet Indira Gandhi. He was the youngest president of the Kerala unit, a record that still remains unbroken.
Remembering those simpler times, Mr. Antony, speaking to The Hindu, said, “I took a taxi from Kerala House where I was staying to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s residence at 1 Safadarjung Road. My taxi was allowed to go till the courtyard of the house and Ms. Gandhi herself came to receive me.”
His relation to the Congress top leadership though did not stop him from parting ways from Indira Gandhi to be first part of the Congress (Urs) formed by then Chief Minister of Karnataka D. Devaraj Urs, and later forming his own outfit in Kerala, the Congress (A), in 1978. He remained away for four years.
He acknowledged on Wednesday that in 1982, when he returned to the Congress, he was received by Indira Gandhi without any malice. The three-time Kerala Chief Minister and India’s longest serving Defence Minister expressed his debt to the Gandhi family for giving him everything
“The Congress cannot exist without the Gandhi family at the centre of it. It’s the Gandhi family that is holding the party together. I have nothing to say those who believe that they can erect a Congress without the Gandhi family,” he asserted.
‘Pivot of Opposition politics’
And the Congress, in turn, he said, was the pivot of the Opposition politics. Those who are serious about uprooting the BJP government should remember that a change of guard at the Centre was not possible without the Congress playing a lead role. The steep slide in the party’s electoral fortunes since the 2014 was only a temporary glitch and this time too shall pass. “One must remember, that no one can stay in power forever. A period of 5 to 10 years is a small time in country’s history. Congress is the only party to have presence in every village of India,” he noted.
As he is withdrawing from the Delhi centric politics Mr. Antony did not rule out his participation in the party in Kerala. “I am 81 years old. I will be active as per my age,” he stated. He was elected to the CWC in 1991 with second highest number of votes. As of now, he is not resigning from other party positions, including the CWC, but he clarified that once a new president is in place following the organisational elections he may not be part of the working committee too. “I have left parliamentary politics and I want to slowly withdraw from national politics too,” he added.
Bid to stay away from controversies
Mr. Antony’s career in Delhi will be remembered for his assiduous efforts to steer clear from all controversies and carefully framing his answers on any difficult questions. Keeping with the trend, on Wednesday, when he was asked about the recent Prashant Kishor fiasco, he dismissed it with one line. “My opinion is same as the party’s opinion.”
“So has Delhi lost the charm?” It is an emphatic yes! He took the decision to quit Delhi about one and a half years back as he was in AIIMS Delhi affected by COVID-19. “There is a time for everything. And my conscience said, that my time here is over.”
“Will he miss Delhi?” Again the answer is a clear “no”. “When I had come to Delhi, it was a free place, without any security protocols tying us down. As an MP in 1985, I could walk to Parliament, strolling through the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Or if it was a humid day, I could take an auto. Now it is unthinkable. Delhi is changed,” he observed, in his parting shot to the city.
