File photo of Suresh Gopi with Narendra Modi. Source Instagram
By Shankar Raj*
Thiruvananthapuram: Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi will go into the record books for being the first Bharatiya Janata Party candidate to win a Lok Sabha seat and let the Lotus bloom in the hostile terrain of Kerala.
For a state that has steadfastly refused to concede electoral victory to a BJP politician in the Lok Sabha polls, Gopi had made the impossible possible like the roles he essayed in hit Malayalam movies as angry, idealistic bureaucrat, cop and a young rebel.
He is known for his hit dialogues in movies and he used the same in the current elections when he said “I need Thrissur, you should give me Thrissur, I’m taking Thrissur”, leading to an explosion of memes and trolls.
Born in Alappuzha to K. Gopinathan Pillai, a film distributor, and V. Gnanalekshmi Amma, Suresh Gopi, 65, began his career as an actor, playback singer and television presenter. He made his acting debut as a child in the 1965 film Odayil Ninnu and as an adult in 1986 and has since acted in more than 250 films. In 1998, he won the National Film Award for Best Actor and Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Kaliyattam.
He served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 2016 to 2022. Apart from his philanthropy, he is also an active social worker and a staunch supporter of environmental issues.
Also read: LDF, UDF in blame game after exit polls make lotus bloom in Kerala
During his college days, he was an active member of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPM. Later, he started supporting Indira Gandhi and the Indian National Congress.
In 2016, Suresh Gopi was sworn in as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha, nominated by the President. In October of the same year, he officially joined the BJP and contested in the 2019 general elections from Thrissur and lost. In 2021, he contested for the Kerala Assembly from Thrissur and again lost.
But never known to give up, he finally emerged third time lucky by bagging the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat in the current elections.
He is married to Radhika Nair and the couple has four children.
*Shankar Raj is a former editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
