THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ending a long wait of several decades, the BJP is set to open its Lok Sabha account from Kerala for the first time ever. Riding on a pro-Modi wave, the party's Suresh Gopi has ensured a comfortable lead in Thrissur.
Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who took on the CPI's ex-minister VS Sunil Kumar and senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan in Thrissur, had a clear lead right from the first round, and by 12.30 noon, had crossed the 65,000 mark.
The ex-Rajya Sabha MP, who lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 2021 assembly polls from Thrissur, has been actively concentrating on the temple town for long. The actor was able to make inroads not just into the Hindu vote base, but was also successful in winning the hearts of the Christian community here.
Suresh Gopi's victory shows that the BJP's Christian outreach programme, where the saffron party has been reaching out to church heads, has borne fruit. Recently his offering of a golden crown to the Lourde's Metropolitan Cathedral had triggered major discussions.
An array of political controversies surrounding the actor seems to have turned in his favour. The actor, known for his action hero roles, had made a mass entry into Thrissur politics in 2019. His mass dialogue "Thrissur Njaningedukkuva' (I'm taking Thrissur) had triggered both trolls and debates in political circles back then. Though he lost to the Congress' TN Prathapan, he was able to send out a strong political message to LDF and UDF camps.
In the 2021 assembly elections too, Suresh Gopi had contested from Thrissur. He was pushed to the third position behind the CPI's P Balachandran and Congress' Padmaja Venugopal. Curiously just a few weeks before the Lok Sabha elections, Padmaja had migrated to the saffron party.
Despite losing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the actor continued to focus on Thrissur, making it clear that he means business. A Narendra Modi loyalist, his access to the party top leadership too played a crucial role in the victory. In January 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended Suresh Gopi's daughter's marriage at Guruvayoor temple, sending out a clear message to voters in Thrissur. Sensing a winning possibility, this time around, the Prime Minister had campaigned twice for Suresh Gopi here.
The Congress was pinning its hopes on senior leader K Muraleedharan while the CPI's ex-minister VS Sunil Kumar was confident of winning from here. It seems the two bigwigs have cancelled each other out, helping Suresh Gopi to come up with a huge majority of close to 70,000 votes.
