THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Signalling its intention to make Suresh Gopi the party’s face in Kerala, the BJP national leadership is learnt to have directed its state unit to induct the actor-politician into the core committee – its topmost decision-making body in the state.
This is the first time a relatively new political entrant is finding a place in BJP’s apex body. There is also a plan to make the former MP the party’s Kerala president, it is reliably learnt. “An arrangement is being planned where Gopi will assume the party chief post and a staunch party member will be made the working president to manage its day-to-day affairs. In case the ex-MP wins a parliament seat, the working chief will be made president,” said a national leader. Sources said the move clearly indicates Gopi will be asked to take up the chief post by the end of this year.
The BJP Kerala unit is learnt to have agreed to Gopi’s induction into the core committee, albeit reluctantly. BJP state president K Surendran told reporters that the former MP can make “significant contributions” to the party. “If your reports are true and he comes (to the core committee) , I will be the happiest person,” he said.
The national leadership’s directive came close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressing displeasure over ‘familiar faces’ continuing at the helm of the party’s Kerala unit, during the core committee meeting recently. He had also pointed out the absence of a woman representative in the panel. Internal surveys by BJP had indicated that Gopi’s ascension would benefit the party.
BJP state unit scuttles Sobha Surendran entry
It is also learnt that the BJP central leadership also proposed the names of state vice-presidents Sobha Surendran and former PSC chairman K S Radhakrishnan as core committee members. Radhakrishnan belongs to the backward Dheevara community.
However, the state leadership reportedly foiled Sobha’s chances by suggesting that the senior woman leader should be assigned bigger responsibilities at the national level. The move is seen as an attempt to keep Sobha, who has had a strained relation with Surendran, away from any significant decision-making posts. There are also attempts to include a relatively junior leader close to the official faction as the woman representative in the core committee, sources said.
Meanwhile, Gopi could not be reached for comments despite repeated efforts. The firebrand actor, who enjoys a warm relationship with the PM, has been reluctant to lead the party. BJP state in-charge Prakash Javadekar was tightlipped.
“If you are asking about Suresh Gopi, I can say we will definitely inform the media if we expand our core team,” he told TNIE. In Tamil Nadu, BJP had inducted former IPS officer K Annamalai into the party in 2020. A political novice, he was made state president barely a year later. Sources say a similar model would be tried out in Kerala too as the party failed to make significant gains in the 2021 assembly elections with the current crop of leaders.