Actor-Politician Suresh Gopi's Nonconformist Stand Irking Kerala BJP

Actor-politician Suresh Gopi, who successfully managed to undo BJP's jinx in Lok Sabha polls, is poised to become a Union minister in the Modi cabinet, as per reports. However, despite Gopi's impressive performance, the Kerala BJP unit is worried about the maverick ways of the newly-elected Thrissur MP. The state BJP is concerned that Gopi is publicly refusing to own up the saffron party's ideology, reported Times of India.

Though Gopi has never been at loggerheads with the Kerala BJP leadership, he has conspicuously stayed away from party's organisational affairs since he joined it in 2016. On the other hand, Gopi has not shied away from declaring his allegiance to PM Modi and Amit Shah.

The party unit said, "Unlike disgruntled leaders, such as Sobha Surendran, Gopi's cold approach to Kerala unit stems from his failure to fathom the party dynamics and relevance of the organisation".

The recent incident that irked the party unit is Gopi's response to the reception planned for him along with V Muraleedharan and Rajeev Chandrasekhar at the state BJP headquarters. Gopi said that people these days have started adopting an 'apolitical' stand and his Thrissur victory is a testimony to that.

"We don't know whether he really used the word 'apolitical' after fully understanding its meaning. I wonder how a person of his stature, who is a now a people's representative, could say so. That too at a party function. It would be a tough task for the state BJP leaders to keep a check on the new Union minister," said a party leader.

Some leaders are wary that if Gopi continues to defy the politics of BJP teamed with his puerile statements, it could pose major issues in the state unit. There's a section of leaders with RSS background in Kerala who are waiting for a creation of another bloc in the state to settle scores with Muraleedharan and Surendran.

However, several BJP leaders have categorically dismissed the odds of Gopi emerging as a parallel power with the state BJP as he has no selfish reasons to do so. Many also draw comparison between Gopi's win and former BJP leader O Rajagopal's Nemon Assembly victory in 2016. Rajagopal also tried to project the victory as his own and not the party's. He also failed to take care of his constituency, eventually leading to losing the seat in 2021.