"Congress is not the future of this country," Anil Antony said.
Anil Antony, the son of Congress veteran AK Antony, who joined the BJP today, said it was a difference of ideas and opinion that had propelled his move. On his father's sharp and public criticism of his decision, he said, "My father is a person I have the deepest love and respect for".
"It is not personal in any manner," Anil Antony told NDTV this evening. "This is a difference of ideas, viewpoints of where the country's trajectory is. I have made it very clear that I represent young India," he added.
What was vital to his decision, he indicated, was his disillusionment with the change in the Congress, a party he has been acquainted with for years and was even a part of for a short while.
"I can assure you that this is not the Congress party that I have seen when I was growing up. This is not the same party that existed 20 years back, not even five years back. This party is which has been reduced to promoting the interests of two or three individuals," he said.
"It is definitely painful. But Congress is not the future of this country. It is not just my opinion, it is the opinion of the vast majority of India," he added.
AK Antony, a lifelong Gandhi family loyalist, said earlier today that his son's decision was "wrong" and led to a "very painful" moment for him. He said he credited the Nehru-Gandhi family for keeping India united and respecting its diversity.
He said only once he had disagreed with Indira Gandhi -- who initiated him to politics -- but later returned to the party with even more respect for her.
Anil Antony -- who joined the BJP shortly after a disagreement with the Congress on the issue of the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi – denied that his criticism of the Congress at the time was opportunistic.
"What happened was not planned in any manner," he said. "This is not the first incident. There have been incidents which have been going on for a while where we were willing to compromise the core interest of the country for small-time political gains. I raised the opinion two or three months ago, without any intention (of joining the BJP)… it was an opinion I gave in a very mild manner but things spiralled and finally I resigned," he added.
Anil Antony's change of camp is expected to provide the BJP with a firm foothold in a state where they practically had none. For decades, Kerala has swung between the Left and the Congress. The BJP is also hoping that his entry will influence the state's Christian community to open its doors to the party.
The party has made big plans to reach out to the Christian community which is expected to involve BJP workers visiting Christian homes on Easter week. On April 9, Easter Sunday, 10,000 BJP workers will visit the homes of 1 lakh Christians. Last year, during the Christmas week, thousands of BJP workers visited the homes of Christians with gifts, sources said.