By Hathim Ashir
The actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi registered a surprising victory for BJP from Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency of Kerala, a state that has historically rejected BJP since its formation.
The national-award winning actor, Gopi, was successful in his second attempt to help BJP make inroads in Kerala. He won Thrissur seat by a margin of 74,686 votes. Gopi gained a total of 4,12,338 votes, defeating his nearest contender, CPI’s VS Sunil Kumar, who secured 3,37,652 votes.
In every way, Gopi’s win is a major achievement for BJP. Even though the party failed to achieve the majority on its own, Gopi’s win not only opened the BJP’s account in Kerala, but also increased the party’s vote share significantly. BJP got 37.8% votes in Thrissur, while the other two contenders UDF and LDF got only 30.95% and 30.08% votes respectively. This came as a rude shock to the ruling dispensation LDF.
Gopi, a very popular film star from Kerala who has acted in more than 250 feature films, joined the BJP in 2016. He is a key face of BJP in Kerala. Gopi was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP in 2016, nominated by the president of India under the category of eminent citizens, as mentioned in Article 80 of the Indian Constitution.
He contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and also in the 2021 assembly elections. Both times, he was defeated and got only the third position. Recently, a case was registered against him for misbehaving with a woman journalist.
His victory in Thrissur can be attributed to numerous reasons. The foremost is his popularity as a film star. Another is BJP’s relentless pursuit to grow in Kerala. Even though BJP doesn’t have a single seat in the Kerala assembly, the state has the most number of RSS Shakhas in the country.
BJP & RSS have been undertaking several initiatives and campaigns like ‘Sneha Yathra’ for the past two years and holding meetings at many places where non-Hindus are populated, particularly Christian groups like Syro-Malabar communities. These communities in Thrissur played a significant role in deciding who wins the Lok Sabha constituency.
After his victory on Tuesday, Suresh Gopi said that he remains indebted to people who voted for him.
