CONGRESS VETERAN AK ANTONY WISHES HIS SON, WHO JOINED

Veteran Congress leader and former Union Defence Minister AK Antony said today that his son, Anil K Antony, who is contesting as a BJP candidate in the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, should not win the election.

Breaking his silence after a long gap, AK Antony said that his son "should lose, and his rival, the Congress candidate in the south Kerala constituency, Anto Antony, should win with an absolute majority".

The 83-year-old former Kerala Chief Minister said that he has put his health issues aside to address the media as he thought he has to come out and make his stand clear as this is an election to "safeguard the idea of India and its constitution." "It is a do-or-die battle," said AK Antony, who is also India's longest-serving Defence Minister.

He cited health issues as a reason for not traveling out of Thiruvananthapuram for campaigning for the Congress party and said that even if he did not go for campaigning in Pathanamthitta, Anto Antony would win with an absolute majority.

"For me, family and politics are different. This stance isn't new; I have maintained it since my days in KSU," Mr Antony said. The Kerala Students Union (KSU) is the student organisation of Congress in Kerala.

"The Congress is my religion", AK Antony said, reacting to repeated queries about his son's politics.

Sharply reacting to his father's remarks, Anil Antony said that the Congress has outdated leaders and only sympathises with his father, a former defense minister, for backing sitting MP and Congress member Anto Antony, who had recently stirred up controversy by making statements on the Pulwama terror attack.

Talking to reporters, Anil further stated that he himself will win in Pathanamth