Pathanamthitta: The National Democratic Alliance will now have a new alliance partner in Kerala. P. C. George has joined the NDA and his party, the Kerala Janapaksham Secular, will fight alongside NDA for the Lok Sabha elections.
The decision was announced by BJP State President, Sreedharan Pillai, in a joint conference with P. C. George. BJP National Secretary Satya Kumar was also present.
The 67-year old leader is the MLA from Poonjar constituency in the high-range region of Kerala. George was a prominent leader of the Kerala Congress before striking out on his own with Janapaksham. The NDA can now boast of two members in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.
P. C. George, who has a strong presence in his constituency which has a major Christian vote share, has been a vocal supporter of Sabarimala protests. He even sat near the BJP MLA, O. Rajagopal, in the Assembly in solidarity with the BJP’s fight to preserve the ancient Hindu rituals.
The entry of P. C. George’s party will also boost NDA’s prospects in Pathanamthitta, which includes Sabarimala. Poonjar falls in Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency and with the votes of George’s supporters falling in favour of K. Surendran, the chances of a NDA win is high.
P. C. George said that his decision to join the BJP-led alliance was because of Narendra Modi’s policies that benefited agriculture and farming. He also said that BJP manifesto was favourable to the minority community.
The seven-time legislature said, “I will be sharing the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at Kozhikode on Friday when he will be addressing the election rally. I am convinced that Modi can do a lot of good and hence decided to become an ally of NDA.”
