india

Updated: Jul 22, 2019 01:06 IST

Senior Kerala MLA and a partner of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) PC George claimed on Sunday that six Congress MPs and three legislators from the state had held talks with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central leadership and that there would be defections.

Congress’ Poonjar MLA rubbished the claim, saying that George made such statements to get media attention.

George, whose Kerala Janapaksham Secular party recently joined the BJP-led NDA in the state, made the claim at a time when the Congress had been hit by desertions of its MLAs in Karnataka and Goa. “I have come to know that six Congress MPs and three Congress MLAs in the state have held talks with the central leadership of the BJP,” George told reporters in Kottayam on the sidelines of his party’s state committee meeting. Later, the senior MLA told news agency PTI that he could not divulge more details about the talks but claimed there would be “a flow” from the Congress to the BJP in Kerala.

Dismissing his claims, vice-president of Kerala Congress unit VD Satheesan said: “George is known for making such allegations to get media attention.”

“Not a single Congress leader from Kerala would join the BJP. George was making such claims as the Congress had prevented his move to enter the UDF fold.”