Long journey ahead: Ananthkumar’s daughter on pro-JD(S) tweet

Senior BJP leader, the late HN Ananthkumar’s daughter Vijeta Ananthkumar on Monday clarified that her recent tweet on JD(S) was a “political observation and not my ideological endorsement”.

Vijeta’s clarification came days after her tweet - "Why Karnataka politics is really interesting? JDS is still a very strong political force” - was widely shared, prompting former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy to invite her and her mother Tejaswini Ananthkumar to join the regional party.

“There is an ideology and then there is political analysis or observation, these are often confused to be one and the same,” Vijeta, a policy researcher, said in a statement, adding that her tweet was her political observation “as a keen learner”.

She said it would be “iniquitous to connect my ideas and opinions to that of my family members”.

Vijeta’s statement also discusses the question of her political ambitions. “Many have asked me if I will get into politics now. I believe that the political journey of any individual does not begin like this, it must start by serving the party and working as a karyakarta. It is their support and teaching that makes you a leader,” she said.

Ananthkumar, who passed away in 2018, was widely seen as the BJP’s south India face in New Delhi’s power corridors. “Appa built BJP in Karnataka brick by brick along with lakhs of karyakartas over the span of 35 years. Amma has been tirelessly working for the society in the areas of hunger, nutrition and environment and the party with the utmost integrity,” Vijeta said, adding that her father taught her that nobody was an enemy and mutual respect was fundamental in democracy.

“My expression of respect should not be misunderstood as me joining any party,” she said. “I have a long journey ahead and want to enhance my learning to serve my Motherland,” she said, ending her statement with “desha modalu” (nation first).

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