Another milestone for Suresh Gopi: Kerala’s first BJP MP in cast of ministers

On Sunday, before leaving for Delhi, Gopi told the media at the Thiruvananthapuram airport: “This (a Cabinet berth) is Modi’s decision. He called me and asked me to be at his home at 11.30 am. I am obeying. I do not know anything else. I will be an MP working for Kerala and Tamil Nadu. I had already told people of Thrissur during the campaign.”

Following his win from Thrissur by 74,000 votes, Gopi’s Cabinet berth is also another milestone for the party. In the previous NDA governments, the BJP had ministers from Kerala but they were all Rajya Sabha MPs elected from other states. For example, P C Thomas who is the leader of the defunct Indian Federal Democratic Party served as a Union Minister of State (MoS) from 2003-’04 in Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s government. who was the leader of the defunct Indian Federal Democratic Party, had served as a Union Minister of State (MoS) between 2003-’04 in AB Vajpayee’s government. Thomas had won from the Muvattupuzha Lok Sabha seat in 1999 with the BJP’s backing.

How Gopi climbed the BJP ladder

Gopi, 65, has only been in the BJP for eight years. But his victory is now a lesson for Kerala BJP, which has been toiling over the years to end the state’s bipolar electoral politics between the CPI(M) and the Congress.

A popular Malayalam actor with 250 films under his belt, he was nominated as a Rajya Sabha member in April 2016 by the President under the category of eminent personalities. He joined the BJP just months later in October 2016.

At the time, it was a rarity for film professionals in Kerala to foray into active politics. Gopi, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, soon emerged as the BJP’s star campaigner riding on his image as an action movie star known to play police officer roles.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Gopi made his electoral debut in Thrissur but finished third. The Congress’s T P Prathapan won the seat. Gopi had by this point managed to reach out to the Hindu community in Kerala over the Sabarimala issue. Although he lost the elections, Gopi managed to increase the BJP’s vote share to 28.2% from 11.15% in 2014. Then, he contested in the 2021 Assembly elections from Thrissur. Although he finished third, he again increased vote shares.

Despite the losses, Gopi started involving himself with charitable activities in Thrissur and spent his MPLADS funds as Raja Sabha MP for various developmental projects in the region.

In 2023, when the CPI(M) got embroiled in a cooperative bank fund scam, Gopi led a grassroots-level protest. Campaigning at the time, he used one of his popular film dialogues — “Thrissur njan edukkuva, enikku venom Thrissur (I am taking Thrissur, I want Thrissur)” — to reach out to people.

Days before Kerala went to polls on April 26, the police had imposed several restrictions at the venue of annual Thrissur pooram, the state’s cultural festival, as part of crowd management. In protest, organising temple committees had decided to wind up their programme.

But, Gopi went on to make a dramatic entry in an ambulance to meet the organisers of the festival and ensured that the festival had carried on as planned*

In tune with the BJP’s political line to win Christian votes, Gopi also reached out to the community. Early this year, he donated a golden crown to the Lourdes Metropolitan Cathedral Church to mark the wedding of his daughter. He defeated the CPI’s V S Sunilkumar by 74,686 votes. With 250-odd films under his belt, Gopi is still active in the Malayalam film industry.