P C George's Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) plans merger with BJP

Kottayam (Kerala): Former MLA P C George on Tuesday hinted that the Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) party led by him is likely to merge with the BJP.

Speaking to news channels here, George said that the "general sentiments" of his party workers are in favour of joining the BJP and that a decision in this regard will be made before the Lok Sabha polls.

In case such a decision is taken, it won't be a merger "as ours is a very small party and it would be like a small stream joining a river," he said.

George, who represented Poonjar's seat in the Kerala assembly for more than 30 years, praised Narendra Modi's leadership and said that India has never had such an accomplished prime minister and that the opinion among party ranks is to support him.

When asked whether he would contest the Lok Sabha polls if he joined the BJP, he said, "If the BJP asks me to contest, I will; if not, I won't." George, a former seven-time legislator representing the Poonjar constituency in the Kottayam district, served from 1982 to 1987 and from 1996 to 2022, totalling 33 years in the Kerala Assembly.

He was associated with various political parties like Kerala Congress, Kerala Congress (Joseph), Kerala Congress (Mani), and Kerala Congress (Secular) before forming his own party, Kerala Janapaksham (Secular), after the 2016 assembly elections.

During his political career, George held positions such as Chief Whip of the Kerala Assembly from 2011 to 2015 when the UDF government was in power.

He later became an independent politician and in 2017 established his own party.

George lost the Poonjar segment, his bastion, to the Left Democratic Front candidate in the 2021 assembly polls in a triangular fight.