ANIL ANTONY: LOVES WHAT HE DOES, THEREFORE, DOES IT WELL by Mihir Srivastava

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One can argue, Anil Antony made a politically disastrous decision by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). For his father, A K Antony, is one of the tallest Congress leaders, has served as the chief minister of Kerala and held senior cabinet positions in the union government. And recently the Congress party did very well in the Kerala assembly elections and came back to power with a thumping majority; had Anil stayed on in his father’s party would have reaped political dividends. He's, therefore, one of the rare politicians who lost out despite joining the world’s largest political party.

I thought that was the case, till I met him at a café in Delhi’s Khan Market, where we had nimbu-pani one hot afternoon. “I have no regret, in fact I’m happy,” he says on the question of joining the BJP that didn’t make his family particularly happy.

Let me start describing him by saying that Anil has grown up witnessing power from a close quarter, and is not fascinated by trappings of power, positions, titles and the restrictions that come with it and stifle day-to-day life. That’s his advantage.

He did his schooling in Kerala and went for higher studies to the US. A postgraduate from Stanford University in Management Science and Engineering; he ​continued to live in the US for seven years and founded a few tech companies, and did well as an entrepreneur. He was involved in 4G chip design in 2008, long before it became vogue.

Technology policy, economic development, and international relations are his forte and writes actively on digital public goods, AI competitiveness, and strategic international partnerships to name a few. When he was on top of the curve in the tech-world, he decided to come back to Bharat and use his expertise for nation building, harnessing the country's immense economic potential.

The only political party that has the capacity to give shape to his vision for India is the BJP; he didn’t have an iota of doubt about it. He has a fair idea what trajectory to take to become a developed country; technology will play a sheet anchor role. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a plan for India, short, mid and long term, that stems from the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047. Anil finds a lot of resonance in this vision.

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Anil is not the demonstrative type. Like his father, he does things without fanfare, and shuns theatrics to please the top leadership of his party—which has become a trend these days. Instead, he’s effective, focused, organised with a restless energy about him.

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Soon after his father retired from active politics after more than 50 years of an eventful public life, Anil joined the BJP. Unlike the popular perception, he wasn’t put to use by his party in the just concluded Kerala elections but for his core competency, expertise and skill set. As a BJP leader, Anil has travelled the length and breadth of Bharat multiple times and worked hard, and got things done. He has risen ranks, and is the national secretary, national spokesperson of the BJP; also a prabhari (in charge of a state) of BJP Meghalaya and BJP Nagaland.

Still single, Anil has been an eligible bachelor for many years. His father, mother and younger brother are his family. He points out that his father and brother are staunch supporters of the Congress party. The family has agreed to disagree when it comes to political views and affiliations. 

The family

We met after months that afternoon, he had a gruelling session at the gym before he came to see me. Chewing on salad, he spoke his mind without filters. I liked it. "People think I made a wrong decision, because they’re looking from the perspective of Kerala, but I look from the perspective of the country, and things appear different,” he explains. The BJP government is in power in 22 states; the Congress is, at best, on the retreat.

The Congress party’s approach is negative; they want to come back to power attacking Modi. They have nothing concrete to offer themselves. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition, has the liberty to fail endlessly. Anil has seen the Congress party’s functioning, the inner dynamics, from a close quarter since he was a child.

He’s categorical in his analysis that has shaped his actions. “They are very rigid when it comes to ideology and working,” he says. As an implication, when guided by archaic ways of looking at things, one can’t keep pace with the fast-changing tech-driven world.

The fact that he’s doing well in the BJP and is getting weightier responsibilities makes him unpopular amongst the next generation of the BJP—the sons and daughters of the ministers, senior leaders of the party. While they are bit of a showman on the social network, to their dismay a very private Anil has risen the ranks. The BJP leadership has to be given the credit; drama can take you only so far. Real and reel are different.

Anil is not the demonstrative type, but undeterred when he puts his mind to a path for future. Like his father, he does things without fanfare, and shuns theatrics to please the top leadership of his party—which has become a trend these days. Instead, he’s effective, focused, organised with a restless energy about him.

Anil has done well because he delivers, and he’s not greedy about positions and power, for it, as I mentioned earlier, is not new to him. He is not entangled in trappings of power. Loves what he does, therefore, does it well.