THRISSUR: PM Modi’s second visit to Kerala signals a clear message – BJP aims to make inroads via actor-politician Suresh Gopi in Thrissur constituency. The saffron party workers must engage with every booth to connect with voters ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The January 3rd Roadshow and public event with actor Suresh Gopi accompanying the Prime Minister marked the initial step in a strategy experimented with within the 2019 general elections. PM Modi’s time at the wedding of Suresh Gopi’s daughter, Bhagya, to businessman Shreyas Mohan underlines the bond between the actor and the prime minister.
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Over the past nine years, Modi rarely spent extended durations with celebrities or VIPs, making the time in Guruvayoor significant. Fakrudheen Ali, a political analyst and historian, while talking to The New Indian, said, “BJP aims to open its account through Suresh Gopi in Thrissur in the upcoming parliamentary polls.
FLASH : Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the wedding of actor-turned-politician #SureshGopi‘s daughter, #BhagyaSuresh in Guruvayur.
The ceremony took place at 8:45 am, and after clicking photographs with the couple and family, the #PrimeMinister left the venue. Notable… pic.twitter.com/ntfKGDaabb
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) January 17, 2024
In the current situation, this is the only seat bankable for the saffron party in Kerala. With the actor’s charisma, they do have a chance.” Suresh Gopi’s charity works and popularity among youngsters and women make him a unique figure for the BJP.
The wedding of Bhagya Suresh Gopi became a grand affair with prominent personalities from the Malayalam film industry attending, making it a star-studded event. PM Modi blessed ten other newly-wed couples, dispelling claims that the actor’s daughter’s marriage led to the cancellation of other marriages at the Guruvayoor temple.
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Actors Mohanlal and his wife Suchithra, Mammootty and his wife Sulfath, Jayaram and his wife Parvathy, Vindhuja, Rachana Narayanan Kutty, Dileep, among others, stood in a queue as PM Modi greeted each of them personally. Modi presented them with the Akshatham brought from Ayodhya and shook hands with them.
Prime Minister #NarendraModi inaugurates projects worth more than Rs 4,000 crores in #Kochi.
PM said, “The newly inaugurated projects will enhance the capacity of the Kochi Shipyard. This will help in the inland waterways. In the past 10 years, our Ports were able to attain… pic.twitter.com/NreIR07Jiw
— The New Indian (@TheNewIndian_in) January 17, 2024
BJP’s central leadership sends a political message to the southern state that ‘Modi’s guarantees’ will headline the party’s campaign for the crucial Lok Sabha polls. The NDA, led by the BJP, secured around 15 percent of the votes in the 2019 polls but failed to win a seat, including the one contested by Suresh Gopi in Thrissur.
However, the actor’s proactive service activities and efforts to address public grievances have strengthened his connection with the people in the past four years, making him a strong contender for the upcoming elections. K Shiva Shankar, a BJP state committee member, states, “He has indeed made self-contributions to a large number of people in the past few years and thus has been able to make a good connection with the people.”
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The central leadership, keenly observing politics in the southern state, believes that the actor’s connection with the public and charisma could reap political benefits. Meanwhile, the Congress downplays the recent outreach by the Prime Minister, stating that the people of Thrissur will reject the BJP’s political ideology.
VD Satheeshan, Leader of the Opposition and senior Congress leader, asserts, “People of Kerala will reject the politics of hate and communalism as propagated by the BJP, and these visits by the Prime Minister will not make any difference in Kerala.”
