Kerala's P C George merges party with BJP
New Delhi, Jan 31: Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) chief P C George merged his party with the BJP on Wednesday.
George along with his son Shaun and other Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leaders joined the BJP here in the presence of the saffron party's in-charge for political affairs in Kerala Prakash Javadekar and other senior leaders.
"We are very delighted to welcome Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) leaders P C George, Shaun George and George Joseph," Javadekar said at a joint press conference at the BJP headquarters here.
George, BJP national secretary Anil Antony and Union minister V Muraleedharan were also present at the press conference.
Javadekar described George as "a fiery speaker and a great catholic diocese leader".
"We will win a minimum of five (Lok Sabha) seats in Kerala. That's the difference we are going to make in Kerala politics," the BJP leader said.
A big rally will be held in Kerala. The first meeting of BJP leaders, including those of the now-merged Kerala Janapaksham (Secular), will also be held in the state, Javadekar said.
"This is just the beginning. Much more will follow in the coming days," he added.
The BJP leader also attacked the CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala, saying it has lost its credibility due to crime and corruption in the state.
"This is not the 2019 (Lok Sabha) elections when people in Kerala believed that Rahul Gandhi would become the prime minister. Now you ask anybody in Kerala, everybody says Narendra Modi would be the prime minister," Javadekar said.
"That's a change. They (LDF) have lost their credibility... The UDF is confusion, contradictions and a rudderless combination," he said.
Speaking at the press conference, George said Kerala is witnessing an "agrarian crisis" under the LDF rule and farmers are committing suicides.
In such a situation, George said, he had no other choice but to join Prime Minister Narendra Modi to transform the state.
"The prime minister and the Union government's intervention is absolutely required to get the farmers out of the debt crisis. I have already requested the central government for support. And the central government has been very sympathetic, empathetic and supportive of our request," he said.
George asserted that the BJP will win at least five Lok Sabha seats in Kerala in the upcoming elections and emerge as a leading political player in the state.
"I also have no doubt that in the 2026 assembly polls (in Kerala), the BJP will be in a direct fight with both the CPI(M) and the Congress. In the coming years, the BJP will emerge as a leading political player in Kerala," he said.
Speaking at the press conference, BJP national secretary Anil Antony said the merger of the Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) with the BJP will contribute to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to transform India into a developed country.
"Today, Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) led by P C George is merging with the BJP, showing full confidence in our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji's vision to transform India into 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047," he said.
Welcoming George into the BJP fold, BJP national secretary Antony said, "The merging of Janapaksham today will be the start of a historic trajectory in Kerala where the BJP will grow more and more, and contribute towards the prime minister's mission to transform India into a developed country."
A seven-time MLA, George is "one of the stalwarts of Kerala politics", he said.
"He was also the chief whip of the UDF government in Kerala from 2011 to 2015 and is a very prominent member of the Roman Catholic community in Kerala," he added.
Union minister V Muraleedharan said the merger of Kerala Janapaksham (Secular) with the BJP shows that in Kerala, more and more people are getting convinced that a stable government that can develop the country can only be formed by the BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi.
The merger, he said, has also exposed the "malicious propaganda" that the BJP is anti-minority.
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Israeli strikes on Gaza overnight leaves more than 50 Palestinians dead
Deir al-Balah (Gaza Strip), Apr 3 (AP): Overnight strikes by Israel killed at least 55 people across the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Thursday, a day after senior government officials said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and establish a new security corridor across the Palestinian territory.
Israel has vowed to escalate the nearly 18-month war with Hamas until the fighter group returns dozens of remaining hostages, disarms and leaves the territory. Israel has imposed a month-long halt on all imports of food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle.
Officials in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the strip, said the bodies of 14 people had been taken to Nasser Hospital – nine of them from the same family. The dead included five children and four women. The bodies of another 19 people, including five children aged between 1 and 7 years and a pregnant woman, were taken to the European hospital near Khan Younis, hospital officials said. In Gaza City, 21 bodies were taken to Ahli hospital, including those of seven children.
The attacks came as the Israeli military said an independent body would investigate a March 23 operation in which its forces opened fire on ambulances in Gaza. It said it investigates allegations of wrongdoing by its forces and holds them accountable. Rights groups say such investigations are often lacking and that soldiers are rarely punished. The military said the probe would be led by an expert fact-finding body “responsible for examining exceptional incidents” during the war.
Separately, the military ordered the residents of several areas -- Shujaiya, Jadida, Turkomen and eastern Zeytoun -- to evacuate on Thursday, adding that the army “will work with extreme force in your area”. It said people should move to shelters west of Gaza City.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israel was establishing a new security corridor across the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas, suggesting it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of the Palestinian territory.
Netanyahu referred to the new axis as the Morag corridor, using the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, suggesting it would run between the two southern cities. He said it would be “a second Philadelphi corridor” referring to the Gaza side of the border with Egypt further south, which has been under Israeli control since last May.
Israel has reasserted control over the Netzarim corridor, also named for a former settlement, that cuts off the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, from the rest of the narrow coastal strip. Both of the existing corridors run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.
“We are cutting up the strip, and we are increasing the pressure step by step, so that they will give us our hostages,” Netanyahu said.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority, led by rivals of Hamas, expressed its “complete rejection” of the planned corridor. Its statement also called for Hamas to give up power in Gaza, where the fighter group has faced rare protests recently.
Netanyahu's announcement came after the defense minister, Israel Katz, said Israel would seize large areas of Gaza and add them to its so-called security zones, apparently referring to an existing buffer zone along Gaza's entire perimeter. He called on Gaza residents to “expel Hamas and return all the hostages,” saying “this is the only way to end the war”.
Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout. The group has rejected demands that it lay down its arms or leave the territory.
The Israeli military said an independent body would investigate a March 23 operation which the United Nations said resulted in the deaths of 15 paramedics, including eight from the Palestinian Red Crescent. The military initially said the ambulances were operating suspiciously and that nine members of the group were killed.
“We take this case very seriously,” said Lt Col Nadav Shoshani, an Israeli military spokesman. “We care a lot about our relationship with different organisations. Obviously, the Red Crescent is one of the organisations we work with.”
Netanyahu visits Hungary
Netanyahu arrived in Hungary early Thursday on his second foreign trip since the world's top war crimes court issued an arrest warrant against him in November over Israel's war in Gaza.
Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the the International Criminal Court has said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel's campaign against Hamas — charges that Israeli officials deny.
ICC member countries, such as Hungary, are required to arrest suspects facing a warrant if they set foot on their soil, but the court has no way to enforce that and relies on states to comply. As Netanyahu arrived in Budapest, Hungary said it will begin the procedure of withdrawing from the ICC.
Plans for Gaza
On Sunday, Netanyahu said Israel plans to maintain overall security control of Gaza after the war and implement US President Donald Trump's proposal to resettle much of its population elsewhere through what the Israeli leader referred to as “voluntary emigration”.
Palestinians have rejected the plan, viewing it as expulsion from their homeland after Israel's offensive left much of it uninhabitable, and human rights experts say implementing the plan would likely violate international law.
The war began when Hamas-led group attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements and other deals. Israel rescued eight living hostages and has recovered dozens of bodies.
Israel's offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't say whether those killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 members of Hamas group, without providing evidence.
The war has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins and at its height displaced around 90% of the population.
Israeli strikes on Syria
Separately, Israeli strikes killed at least nine people in southwestern Syria, Syrian state media reported Thursday.
SANA said the nine were civilians, without giving details. Britain-based war monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said they were local gunmen from the Daraa province, frustrated with Israeli military encroachment and attacks in recent months.
Israel has seized parts of southwestern Syria and created a buffer-zone there, which it says is to secure Israel's safety from armed groups. But critics say the military operation has created tensions in Syria and prevents any long-term stability and reconstruction for the war-torn country.
Israel also struck five cities in Syria late Wednesday, including over a dozen strikes near a strategic airbase in the city of Hama.
