26 Facts About AK Antony

AK Antony was Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, from Kerala from 1985 to 1995 and again from 2005 to 2022.

AK Antony currently serves as the Chairman of the Disciplinary Action Committee of the All India Congress Committee, Congress Working Committee, and member of the Congress Core Group and Central Election Committee.

AK Antony previously served as Defence Minister for almost 8 years, making him the longest serving Defence Minister in India.

AK Antony has thrice been the 8th Chief Minister of Kerala and Leader of Opposition once in Kerala Legislative Assembly.

AK Antony's father died in 1959 and Antony self-financed part of his education through odd jobs.

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AK Antony completed his primary education at Holy Family Boys High school and Government Boys High school, Cherthala and completed his Bachelor of Arts from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and Bachelor of Law from Government Law College, Ernakulam.

AK Antony has been an active leader of many strikes like Oru Ana Samaram.

AK Antony became the youngest president of Kerala Students Union in 1966 and served in the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee before becoming an All India Congress Committee General Secretary in 1984.

AK Antony was elected again as KPCC president in 1987, and was defeated by Vayalar Ravi in the KPCC presidential elections in 1991.

Again, when Karunakaran resigned in connection with the ISRO case AK Antony was made the 16th Chief Minister of Kerala, serving from 22 March 1995 to 9 May 1996.

AK Antony was the Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Legislative Assembly between 1996 and 2001.

AK Antony was elected and served a third term from 17 May 2001 to 29 August 2004.

AK Antony failed to retain power on the first two occasions as Chief minister.

The IT@school project and introduction of Information Technology in school level were initiated in 2001 by Third AK Antony ministry, making Kerala the first Indian state to do so.

AK Antony carried out Asian Development Bank aided "Modernization of Government Plan".

AK Antony liberalised education by allowing several private engineering and medical colleges to open in Kerala and championed the state as an investment destination.

AK Antony ordered the closure of the Kerala Coca-Cola plant in 2004 citing drought and the non-availability of drinking water.

AK Antony resigned on moral grounds as food minister in 1994 when his ministry was involved in a sugar import scandal, despite there being no allegations against him.

In 2005, AK Antony entered the Rajya Sabha and was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Defence Minister following Natwar Singh's expulsion from the Congress and Pranab Mukherjee's transfer to the Ministry of External Affairs.

AK Antony's "Buy and Make Indian" campaign saw the cancellation of billion of dollars in purchases of foreign arms, while at the same time stunting domestic production by restricting investments.

AK Antony held the post of Chairman of the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, President of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and Chancellor of Defence Institute of Advanced Technology.

In 2018, AK Antony is one of the signatories to impeachment notice against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

AK Antony is known for his incorruptible record and simple personal life and his intolerance towards corruption in public life.

AK Antony was ranked among top 10 Most Powerful Indians for the year 2012 by the Indian Express.

WikiLeaks cables claimed that AK Antony was the one of the only two leaders, the other being PR Dasmunsi, who criticised Sanjay Gandhi during the 1976 AICC session in Guwahati during Emergency when the latter's political standing was on the rise, asking "what sacrifices he has made for the party or the country".

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AK Antony is a self-proclaimed atheist and is married to Elizabeth who is a Kerala High Court lawyer and is the founder of the Navoothan Charitable Foundation.