Emboldened by an increased vote share in Kerala, the BJP is set to have its first elected central minister from the state. Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, hailed as a giant-slayer for his victory in Thrissur in coastal Kerala, has been called for the swearing-in ceremony, News18 has learnt. Gopi is expected to secure a cabinet berth in Modi 3.0 after defeating advocate and CPM candidate VS Sunilkumar by 74,686 votes.
Kerala has seen BJP’s Rajya Sabha members being inducted as central ministers, but this is the first time ever that a Lok Sabha member of the saffron party may get a cabinet portfolio. The BJP’s vote share in the state shot up by around 2% from 15.6% in 2019 general elections to 17.6% in 2024.
Another senior BJP leader from Kerala and former central minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had lost by a thin margin of around 16,000 votes in Thiruvananthapuram to Congress candidate Shashi Tharoor. Overall, the BJP saw a rising support base in the state, especially in coastal Kerala.
Suresh Gopi is the first big star from the Malayalam film industry to join the BJP. Gopi has worked in around 250 movies. The veteran actor has previously campaigned for LDF and UDF alliances as well. In April 2016, he was nominated by the President of India under the category of eminent personalities and became an MP in the Rajya Sabha. In October 2016, he officially joined the BJP.
Rise of Saffron in Kerala
Kerala is one of the few states where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has experienced a substantial rise. From a modest vote share of around 10% in the 2014 general elections, the party increased its share to approximately 15% in 2019. This steady growth underscores the BJP’s expanding influence in a state traditionally dominated by the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF).
In Kerala, it has always been a fight between the RSS and the Communists. Later, it took a different shape with Congress being another strong and influential political power in the state.
“Getting an elected member as a central minister looks like a milestone for us. This will motivate our cadres. Suresh Gopi been fighting elections for some time now and lost two major elections. But he never gave up. He fought back and won. This is important for our cadre,” said a senior RSS functionary based out of Kerala.
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