Leadership of Nehru-Gandhi family backbone of Congress: Antony

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram, April 27 (IANS) Bidding goodbye to Delhi, 81-year-old former Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Wednesday gave a thumbs up to the Nehru-Gandhi family and said their leadership is the backbone of the Congress party.

Antony, who reached Delhi in 2005 by becoming a Rajya Sabha member after quitting as Kerala Chief Minister in 2004 following the whitewash the Congress party suffered when just one seat out of the 20 was won in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls, is now packing his bags from Delhi and will reach the state capital on Thursday.

He has a house in the capital city and on Wednesday told the media in Delhi that he will now operate from his office at the state party headquarters for as long as the party wants.

"The leadership of the Nehru-Gandhi family is the backbone of the Congress party and without them there is no existence for the party. The statement that if any one criticises the Nehru-Gandhi family, their future is over is totally wrong because if that was true then I would not have been here ," said Antony who holds the record for being the longest serving Defence Minister of the country, a post that he held from 2006 till 2014, spread over two UPA governments led by Manmohan Singh.

Antony along with his erstwhile faction in the Congress party in Kerala split from the Indian National Congress and joined the government led by CPI-M leader E.K. Nayanar in 1980. In 1982 Antony and others who included Oommen Chandy returned to the Congress party.

"I don't think any other Congressman would have got this much from the party as I got. I am quite confident that the upcoming conclave in Rajasthan will mark the return of the Congress party. An opposition without the Congress party has no merit and no meaning," added Antony.

"I have been in the Congress Working Committee for a very long time and now it's time for me to move out and I do not wish to continue in it. Now, after I reach home, I will speak to my colleagues in the party in Kerala and decide my future work," said Antony.

Even though Antony was Kerala Chief Minister three times (1977-78, 1995-96 and 2001-04) he never got a full five year term, while he got a full five years as Leader of Opposition 1996-2001).