Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister AK Antony has informed the Congress leadership that he will not seek re-election to his Rajya Sabha seat and move back to his home state of Kerala after his tenure comes to an end in April. The announcement marks the end of Antony’s nearly 52-year-long illustrious career in electoral politics which includes three terms each as Union minister and chief minister of Kerala. Elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Kerala are due on 31 March.
“The time has come now for me to end my journey in electoral politics and my parliamentary career. I will leave Delhi in April and return to live in Thiruvananthapuram,” Antony said.
Antony thanked Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the opportunities given to him to represent the party in Rajya Sabha. The 81 year old leader said that he was thinking of quitting politics for a while and had also informed Sonia Gandhi about it a few months ago. “After thinking about parliamentary politics for a while, I informed Sonia ji a couple of months ago about my decision not to seek another Rajya Sabha term. During my visit to Kerala last month, I told the PCC president and other colleagues about the same,” Antony said at a press conference in Kerala.
Earlier, the Election Commission announced the dates for elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Kerala which are currently occupied by Antony, CPI(M)’s K Somaprasad and MV Shreyams Kumar.The former Defence Minister’s political career began in Kerala during the 1970s and he earned the reputation of being one of the Congress’ most honest and upright leaders, earning him the moniker ‘St Antony of Congress’. He was known to be one of Sonia Gandhi’s most trusted lieutenants, and also had good terms with former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
Antony first became MLA in the Kerala Legislative Assembly in 1970, after graduating from his student politics days, and went on to serve the first of his three terms as the state’s chief minister at the age of 37 in 1977. Apart from his five terms as MLA, he has also served as the chief of the Congress’ Kerala unit for 10 years. He served as Union minister for three terms – including the longest stint by any defence minister in the country– from 2006 to 2014. He has also been a Rajya Sabha MP for five terms.
After the split within the Congress party in 1978, he quit as chief minister of the Congress (U) faction that led the coalition government in Kerala.
The decision was a protest against the party’s support to Indira Gandhi in the 1978 bypoll. Antony had also asked Indira Gandhi to withdraw the Emergency earlier. After quitting as chief minister, Antony launched his own Congress faction called Congress (A), which later joined the Congress with Indira Gandhi attending the merger ceremony in Kochi.
Thereafter, Antony was made AICC general secretary in 1984 and has been a long-time member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). He shifted to Delhi full-time in 2004. During his time as defence minister, Antony was a part of the Congress Core Committee that made all the final decisions regarding the party and the government during the two UPA terms.