Anto Antony Punnathaniyil (born 1 May 1957) is an Indian politician and agriculturist who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Pathanamthitta, Kerala, since 2009.
[1] In 2009, he made a significant breakthrough when he was elected as a United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate from the newly apportioned Pathanamthitta district.
His leadership skills were recognised early on, leading to his appointment as the union's general secretary.
Being a member of the Indian National Congress, on 16 May 2009, in the first election held in this newly apportioned constituency of Pathanamthitta, he was elected as a United Democratic Front (UDF) candidate by 408,232 votes over K. Ananthagopan of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) with 297,026; B. Radhakrishna Menon of the Bharatiya Janata Party with 56,294 and three other candidates.
[3] In 2014 general elections, he was re-elected from the same constituency with a margin of 58,836 against LDF supported opponent independent candidate Peelipose Thomas, who was an ex DCC president.