Poonjar MLA PC George has announced his support for BJP candidate K Surendran who is contesting from the Pathanamthitta constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
K Surendran on Friday visited MLA PC George at his house at Poonjar in Kottayam. Pathanamthitta is a district situated next to Kottayam that has a considerable Christian population. The Poonjar assembly constituency comes under Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency. Getting the support of PC George and his party- Kerala Janapaksham- will possibly increase the vote share of NDA in Pathanamthitta.
Kerala Janapaksham and PC George has a strong vote base in Poonjar which is a Legislative assembly constituency with over 1.6 lakh voters. Poonjar is the strong hold of PC George where he has won as an MLA for six terms. However, in 2016 assembly polls, it is the Left that had won four of the seven assembly segments in Pathanamthitta.
There were reports earlier that Kerala Janapaksham will join National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the state. K Surendran made his visit to Poonjar in between talks regarding this.
“Janapaksham will support K Surendran in Pathanamthitta but the party has not decided whom to support in other constituencies,” PC George, chairman of Kerala Janapaksham told the media.
George also told media that K Surendran was one person who fought to safeguard the traditions of the Sabarimala temple following the incidents that broke out after the Supreme Court verdict on the issue.
PC George had earlier declared that he will be contesting for Lok Sabha polls from Pathanamthitta constituency. But George soon withdrew the statement and it was following this that reports of Kerala Janapaksham joining NDA surfaced.
PC George is notorious for making controversial statements. He had insulted the nun, who is the rape survivor in Bishop Franco Mulakkal case, multiple times. Following this incident, Kerala police had booked a case against PC George on the complaint given by the nun on last October. George was booked under IPC section 509 (punishment for insulting modesty of a woman by any word, gesture or act). Ironically, many BJP voices on social media had criticised George for insulting the nun and it had spurred a national debate.