BJP's Lok Sabha debut in Kerala: Suresh Gopi wins in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency by 74,686 votes

Malayalam actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader won against the CPI candidate Sunilkumar, by a margin of 74,686 votes from Kerala’s Thrissur constituency in the Lok Sabha election, according to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website.

Results show that the 65-year-old politician’s closest rival, Sunilkumar of CPI is placed second by securing 3,37,652 votes. Another candidate in the electoral race, Congress Party's K Muraleedharan has secured 3,28,124 votes.

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Gopi is running from the constituency for a second consecutive time. In 2019, he was defeated by Congress candidate TN Prathapan with 1,21,267 votes and finished a distant third.

However, with his participation the BJP saw a rise in its vote share from 11.1% in 2014 to an impressive 28.2% in 2019. The party has never won a Lok Sabha seat in the southern state and fielded Gopi again to open its account.

In 2021, Suresh Gopi also contested the Kerala State Assembly elections from the Thrissur segment, but could not register a victory and lost the polls by 3,806 votes.

The popular Malayalam actor’s political journey began in April 2016 as a Rajya Sabha member. He was nominated by the President of India in the category of eminent citizens. Later in October, he officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

During his tenure in the upper house of Parliament, Gopi served as a member of the standing committee for information and technology and a member of the consultative committee for civil aviation.

Also read: Kerala Election Results 2024 Live updates

After becoming a political figure, Gopi has been surrounded by many controversies . In 2023, he allegedly touched a woman reporter inappropriately while speaking to the media and later tendered an apology.

“I have never misbehaved with anyone either in public space or privately. I had touched the reporter with fatherly affection. But if the person felt that I was behaving inappropriately, I respect her feelings. If my behaviour has hurt her, I apologise for it,” Gopi wrote on Facebook.

Also read: Election Results LIVE updates

In the 1990s, Gopi had given a tough competition to Malayalam superstars Mohanlal and Mammootty in terms of cinema popularity and box-office numbers. The BJP’s Kerala leadership also tried to cash in his mass appeal.

Thrissur which comprises seven assembly segments went to polls in the second phase on April 26 and recorded an impressive voter turnout of 72.9%.

The Lok Sabha polls for 543 seats were held in seven phases starting from April 19, with the last phase on June 1. Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking a rare third term at the Centre with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.