His constant presence in Thrissur from 2021 till the 2024 LS election encompassed a strategic outreach to different sections of society, riding on his popularity as a philanthropist and TV star.
It helped Gopi Suresh secure the BJP’s first-ever Lok Sabha victory in Kerala, from Thrissur.
The TV star made a slew of promises ahead of the election, ranging from setting up an AIIMS to extending the metro rail to Thrissur.
A year later, he is not only the Thrissur MP but also holds two portfolios in Modi 3.0—Union Minister of State for Tourism as well as Petroleum and Natural Gas.
His victory could have been the BJP’s golden card to grow its footprint in the state. However, a closer look at his actions and interventions shows that he has not helped the BJP brand grow beyond a point. There is also a significant shrinking of his brand due to back-to-back controversies, which have visibly irked a section of his voters.
The MP, moreover, has been targeted by the opposition parties for his alleged absence from Thrissur and continued silence on critical issues. The arrests of two catholic nuns in BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh over charges of human trafficking and forced conversion are the latest such incident.
On Sunday, Kerala Students Union’s (KSU) Thrissur President Gokul Guruvayoor filed a complaint with the Thrissur East Police Station, alleging that their Lok Sabha MP had been missing since the nuns’ arrests.
The complaint had followed a Facebook post targeting Gopi’s absence by the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church’s metropolitan bishop, Yuhanon Meletius. The Thrissur people, the complaint said, are wondering whether they should file a missing persons report for the actor they elected and sent to Delhi.
Two Malayalee Catholic nuns, Preethi Mary and Vandana Francis, along with a tribal person, were at Chhattisgarh’s Durg railway station on 25 July when a Bajrang Dal activist reached the police, accusing the trio of attempting to convert three girls from Bastar’s Narayanpur.
The nuns remained in jail till 2 August as various church groups and opposition parties protested the arrest, putting the BJP’s Christian outreach measures on the backfoot in poll-bound Kerala. While the BJP leaders attempted to minimise the political damage by assuring people of the nuns’ bail as well as their plan to meet the state’s Christian leaders, Suresh Gopi’s silence on the matter has been damaging.
The alleged absence, while the ruling Left Democratic Front and the Congress are accusing the BJP of electoral malpractices as well as the addition of bogus voters before the Lok Sabha polls, has caused further damage.
“The most concerning fact is that he is not even responding to any issues, which means that he is supporting the attack on these nuns. He was actively participating in the church’s prayers before the polls. If that was genuine, he should have been with the community now,” Thrissur District Congress Committee President Joseph Tajet told ThePrint. Joseph added that the Election Commission of India should examine all the voters added by the BJP to the voter list in the run-up to the state polls.
The MP’s office in Thrissur did not respond to ThePrint’s questions, but said that Suresh Gopi planned to hold a press conference at his convenience. However, according to the BJP Thrissur unit, the MP actively ensured the nuns’ arrests in his capacity.
“Till 17 July, he was active in the constituency for various events. After that, he has been in Delhi for the Parliament session,” the BJP’s Thrissur city unit President Justin Jacob said. He added that Suresh Gopi maintained a good rapport with the state’s Christian leadership.
Justin Jacob, agreeing that the party added many new voters to the electoral list, however, insisted the names were of residents of the constituency, deserving of inclusion in the list.
“Our grassroots-level workers were very active in the campaign, which resulted in the victory. Other parties make allegations as they can not accept their defeat,” he said.
K.P. Sethunath, a state-based political analyst and former journalist, told ThePrint that due to the back-to-back controversies Suresh Gopi created and his failure to bring any significant projects to Kerala despite his position as a Union minister, Gopi’s aura had diminished to a certain extent.
“Visibly, there is nothing. There is potential due to the [ministerial] portfolios. But then, their (Gopi’s and second Union minister from Kerala BJP George Kurian’s) biggest failure is that they failed to bring anything to Wayanad,” Sethunath said.
A senior BJP leader in Delhi told ThePrint that Gopi was crucial for the BJP to make inroads into Kerala. A challenge for the party is the lack of an acceptable leader who has a wide appeal in the state. The leader said that Gopi is a well-known personality in the state, with the ability to connect with people.
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Suresh Gopi’s presence in Thrissur
“Thrissur njan edukkuva (I am taking Thrissur), Ningal Enik Thrissur Tharan (You should give me Thrissur), Enikku venam Thrissur (I want Thrissur),” said Gopi during a campaign rally in the run-up to his maiden Lok Sabha election from the Thrissur constituency in 2019. However, he finished third, with 28.19 percent of the votes, as Congress’s T.N. Prathapan won the seat with 39.83 percent, and CPI’s Rajaji Mathew Thomas was runner-up with 30.85 percent.
Known as Kerala’s cultural capital, Thrissur district is known for the summer festival, Thrissurpooram, which attracts crowds from the country and abroad. Vadakkunnathan Temple, an ancient Shiva temple, conducts the festival on Thekkinkadu Maidanam, the ground surrounding the temple—a landmark for the district in central Kerala.
Six assembly segments make up the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency —Guruvayur, Manalur, Ollur, Thrissur, Nattika, Irinjalakuda, and Puthukkad. The population of the Thrissur district is 31,21,200, according to the 2011 Census. Hindus account for over 58 percent of the population, Christians 24.27 percent, and Muslims 17.07 percent.
Suresh Gopi contested the 2021 Kerala elections from the Thrissur assembly and again lost. This time, Gopi was third with 31.3 percent of the votes behind CPI’s P. Balachandran, who won with 34.25 percent, and Congress’s Padmaja Venugopal (33.52 percent).
He failed twice, but it was the continuous presence of Suresh Gopi in the district that helped him gain public trust. His hometown is in southern Kerala’s Kollam district.
Vinayan K.G. (50), a Thrissur resident and local auto driver, told ThePrint that Gopi was not only in the district but also very active, which, along with his frequent visits to the Vadakkunnathan temple, created a perception that he could bring development to the constituency.
An erstwhile supporter of the LDF, Vinayan said that he, along with many of his friends, campaigned for Gopi ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, believing the same.
“Many of us now feel dejected. Most times, he has been rude in front of the media and has a cinematic way of talking,” Vinayan said, recalling that the Union budget did not even mention Kerala.
Another voter, Sunil Tamman (37), who runs a hardware shop in Thrissur, said there had been a dip in trust in Gopi across the constituency since his election, adding, in support of the minister, that it was too early to evaluate his performance.
When ThePrint contacted the MP’s office, which was inaugurated in Thrissur’s Peringavu on 3 February in Suresh Gopi’s absence, it did not share any information regarding his activities in the constituency.
According to the staffers, Gopi did not have a particular hour scheduled for visits to the office or the constituency, and his visits are when there are no events for him to attend.
The MP’s social media posts show pictures of his attendance at review meetings, or events in Kerala, or those on behalf of the tourism or petroleum ministry.
Of the posts on X since his election, only three are announcements relating to Kerala, one on the central government declaring the Kali Mahadev Temple in Palakkad as a monument of national importance under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, on 17 June this year; another on the petroleum ministry increasing the non-subsidised kerosene allocated for Kerala to 1,248 kilolitre from 648 kilolitre on 16 January, and the proposed redevelopment of the Thrissur railway station on 31 October 2024.
The minister also made posts, thanking the Union government for granting special trains from Delhi to Kerala during the Pahalgam issue in early May, and allowing additional coaches in 10 trains running between Kerala and Tamil Nadu during the festival season on 17 April this year.
A local BJP functionary told ThePrint that Gopi was not involved in the party’s full-time affairs but attended party meetings when he could manage.
“He is not a so-called politician. So, he does not know how party activities work,” the BJP functionary told ThePrint.
According to Joseph and CPI(M) district secretary K.V. Abdul Khader, Gopi’s victory was a mistake by locals in Thrissur, and there will be no repeat of it.
“He is barely in Thrissur. The MP was not even here for the inauguration of his office. The party’s excuse is that he is a Union minister,” Joseph said.
The local BJP unit was unable to provide information regarding Gopi’s activities and schedules in the district. However, they said Gopi had great vision for the constituency, but politics was a new field for the star.
Justin Jacob said that Suresh Gopi had allocated funds for the renovation of the Thrissur local fish market through Lakshmi Trust, a charitable organisation named after his daughter. Gopi had also announced the allocation of Rs 390 crore for the development of the Thrissur railway station, he added.
Justin Jacob added that Gopi wanted to do more in the tourism, religious, and infrastructural sectors in the constituency in the future, adding that his victory was less than a year ago.
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Back-to-back controversies
For the BJP workers in Thrissur, Suresh Gopi’s victory, which culminated in the party’s success, lies in gaining the support of the middle-class Hindu and Christian voters, including women and his increased popularity.
An actor, known for playing angry cops and hosting the show Who Wants to be a Millionaire (Malayalam chapter), Suresh Gopi voiced interest in joining the BJP after publicly praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The actor was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President in the category of eminent citizen in April 2016, and he officially joined the BJP in October of the same year.
Gopi eventually tasted victory in Thrissur in the 2024 LS polls, securing 4,12,338 votes despite facing a tough contest. He defeated two tall leaders, LDF’s V.S. Sunil Kumar, who won 3,37,652 votes, and Congress’s K. Muraleedharan, with his 3,28,124 votes. From 13 percent in 2019 to 16.68 percent in 2024, the party’s vote share in Kerala showed a surge.
In recent times, his statements, sometimes drastically different from those by the Kerala BJP leadership, have landed Suresh Gopi in two controversies. Gopi even said openly that his allegiance was to the party’s high command.
In August 2024, Gopi was the only politician to defend CPI(M) Kollam MLA and actor M. Mukesh when he was facing multiple sexual misconduct cases, following the release of the Hema Committee report. While the Congress and the BJP were protesting against Mukesh and demanding his resignation, Gopi had lashed out at the media for asking questions about Mukesh.
“Are you the judiciary?” the leader asked the media, a statement that the party leader K. Surendran immediately distanced himself and the party from. Soon after, the Thrissur district committee of the Kerala Union of working journalists sought an apology from Gopi for his inappropriate behaviour.
In November 2023, the Kozhikode police summoned the MP after a woman journalist filed a complaint against him for inappropriate behaviour while asking for his response on Israel’s war on Gaza and the Lok Sabha polls. In a video of the incident, Suresh Gopi repeatedly touched her shoulder despite her attempts to move away.
Soon after becoming MoS, the MP said he wished for relief from his political post, citing commitments in cinema—a statement widely seen as his displeasure at not being given a Cabinet berth. However, the MP denied his intention to resign the next day and news reports, which carried his statements, as “incorrect” and that he was proud to be a part of the Union government.
The actor courted another controversy by saying that it was a curse in India that a person from the tribal community would always be heading a ministry. Addressing the Kerala BJP unit’s election campaign in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar, the MP said he dreamed that a person from the upper caste should be the minister of the tribal community.
C.R. Neelakandan, a political analyst from Thrissur, said that even the BJP workers are feeling dejected by the developments.
“He was not even there in the BJP’s campaign for the Palakkad seat,” Neelakandan told ThePrint.
The party leadership in Delhi—whom ThePrint contacted—said the BJP had advised Gopi to refrain from making controversies, but insisted that the controversies would not impact Gopi’s standing due to the Prime Minister’s trust in him, and his significance to the party.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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