Thiruvananthapuram: Legislator P C George, elected as an independent from Poonjar constituency, has decided to work alongside the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). George, who had defeated candidates of the LDF, the UDF and the BJP in the the 2016 assembly election, announced on Tuesday he will work with the national ruling party inside and outside the state assembly.
However, the controversial MLA said he is not joining the BJP.
George's shift to the BJP camp gives the BJP one more voice in the assembly. While its lone MLA O Rajagopal is known as moderate, George is known as capable of making his presence felt with his extreme stands. George turned up in the Kerala Assembly on Wednesday in black attire, typically worn by Ayyappa devotees, to protest the government's stand on Sabarimala issue.
George had developed intimacy with the BJP after associating with them on the Sabarimala issue. The BJP's Kerala president P S Sreedharan Pillai used the interactions to woo George into the camp.
The MLA, who heads the Kerala Janapaksham party, had been with the Kerala Congress and has worked with the LDF as well as the UDF. And now he is finally headed into the NDA camp as well.
George said the tradition of the Congress and the CPM joining hands to beat the BJP is not relevant anymore in Kerala. “There is no need to insult and keep off the party of Narendra Modi who rules India. I do not think the BJP means trouble. In fact no one is more of a communalist than Pinarayi Vijayan who is trying to promote Hindu fanaticism. I had been ready to work with the UDF as well as the LDF in the assembly, but neither of them were interested. Hence I'm aligning with the BJP.”
“Myself and O Rajagopal get one minute each to talk in the assembly,” George said. “We have often shared this time. I will work with Rajagopal who often gives me the chance to speak.”
He said he finds the BJP position on Sabarimala more lovable.
Interestingly, George had said in the Assembly on Tuesday morning that the late Kasaragod MLA, P B Abdul Razak, had fought communal forces. George made his comment while paying tribute to the MLA who had defeated BJP state secretary K Surendran in Manjeshwaram.