Suresh Gopi, The Celebrity Candidate Of BJP (image@The Suresh Gopi)
Before entering into the political arena, Suresh Gopi was a renowned actor of Malayalam film industry. Gopi had received both National and Kerala State Film Award for his performances on screen. The actor turned politician’s filmography is sprawled over 250 films from his debut as a child in 1965 film Odayil Ninnu. The actor turned politician is hoping to win Thrissur Constituency in the upcoming Lok Sabah election, like he claimed back in 2019 General election.
Gopi’s political career did not start with BJP. he was active member of Students’ Federation of India (SFI), which was a student organization associated with CPIM (Communist Party of India (Marxist)), during his college days. Reportedly, Gopi was fascinated with Indira Gandhi and Indian National Congress (INC).
In April 2016, he was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP, as nominated by the President of India. He was nominated as per the provision of Article 80 of the Constitution of India under the category of eminent citizen. Suresh Gopi officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in October 2016.
During the 2019 general election, Gopi was given ticket from Trissur Constituency. His election campaign was tangled with the allegations of him violating the model of conduct (MCC) of the election. The allegations were born after he invoked the Sabarimala (a Hindu temple) deity, Ayyappan, during his election campaign. Contrary to his remarks during the campaign that he is taking Trissur, he lost. He lost the constituency to Congress candidate T N Prathapan. He came third, while CPI’s Rajaji Mathew Thomas secured the second position.
A statement made by Suresh Gopi during the 2020 Kerala local body elections grabbed headlines. He said he would receive requests from people from all over Kerala, about different requests. However, he also put forward a demand. He would only receive requests from individuals if they are attached to recommendations from BJP district party chief. The statement garners scrutiny on social media.
During the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Suresh Gopi lost with a margin of 1,21,267 votes and in the 2021 Kerala Legislative Assembly election, he lost over a margin of 3,806. In the upcoming Lok Sabah election, he is again contesting from the Trissur constituency, hoping to win.
