Lok Sabha elections 2024: ‘It’s BJP for Kerala this time’

BJP candidate and actor Suresh Gopi at an interaction in Thrissur, Kerala, on Wednesday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Popular Malayalam actor and BJP candidate Suresh Gopi is busy addressing the electorate in central Kerala's Thrissur constituency and visiting voters' homes. Though he has lost twice from this seat - in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and the 2021 Assembly poll, Gopi is confident of victory this time around.

In the forthcoming Lok Sabha election, Gopi is pitted against Congress's K Muraleedharan and CPI's V S Sunilkumar. Thrissur is one of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala. It has seven Assembly segments: Guruvayur, Manalur, Ollur, Thrissur, Nattika (SC), Irinjalakuda and Puthukkad.

Excerpts from the interview.

You have lost elections twice before. What do you believe are your chances this time around?
I am contesting for the second time after 2019. My party and the good souls in other parties believe that we [the BJP] will make it in Kerala this time. We are almost there. M K Varghese, mayor of the Left Democratic Front-led Thrissur Corporation recently said you were fit to become the Thrissur MP though he did a somersault later and said all the three candidates contesting the seat were good.

Bharatiya Janata Party candidate and actor Suresh Gopi after a community meeting in Thrissur, Kerala, on Wednesday. Pic/Atul Kamble

(Laughs) I would not like to comment on the mayor's statement as I don't want to put him in a political fix. He is a noble man. Why? Because he is from the services. I have been very open. His assessment of me and the survey that he has done of my heart has given him the proper understanding to tell the people that I am fit.

You recently mentioned that netas should become ‘noble politicians'. What exactly did you mean by that?
Be sensitive, be very emotional, understand the people's hearts and only then will you see the people's tears. if you only see the tears, you will wipe them off; when you see the issues they are facing, you will find solutions. You have to solve their issues.

What are the BJP's chances in Kerala this time?
The Prime Minister's statement that no one would be spared in the Karuvannur bank scam has infused much-needed energy among the poor. Announcing that extensions will be provided for Vande Bharat and the Metro is providing relief to a section of the poor. The Jal Jeevan Mission has not provided pipes/tap water to all and the ones who have received it are not functional. The scheme is riddled with malpractices. The PM had said that each house would get a water connection.

What more can he offer to the people beyond these reliefs?
The prime minister has come to Kerala and metaphorically stood on the chest of [Kerala Chief Minister] Pinarayi Vijayan while making the above statement. This is for the people.

How important is Kerala for the party? PM Modi was on his third visit to the state.
The Prime Minister is a soulful leader and the strongest any political party can have, not just in the country but the whole world. While looking into the welfare of the nation, he has to decide which noble party and souls can make the nation. He is trying to widen the conglomeration of such souls. So he has to make it in Kerala, besides Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. I can never see them [the Telugu-speaking states] divided, Telugu is one soul, one body. Nearly 70 per cent of the people on the Left are good but on account of the rest, the former has to deal with dirt. They won't look for an escape route as they are firm believers in the party. They are creating the script for a new rule that is proving to be favourable for the BJP.

If you are elected as a cabinet minister?
That question is completely out of the box because my leaders and the party will decide. My leaders are aware of my heart. I will be a member of Parliament if I am elected and continue for a comfortable period so that I can make money and pursue my passion. I am sure they will give me that space.

You have said in your talks that people will vote for change. What issues remain unresolved for the people and what do you think you can deliver if your party wins?
Have the MPs, CPI's C N Jayadevan and Congress's T N Prathapan, who came to power in 2014 and 2019 respectively, done anything till 2021? What were their promises? Have they fulfilled them? Have they satisfied voters? That is my point.

What is your advice to first-time voters?
Vote for the nation. Forget your political party, even if it is the BJP. Do what is best to keep your country protected from terrorists and terror-minded people. No one will want to perpetrate terrorism, propagate terrorism and let terrorist angles or thoughtfulness grow.

Seven
No of Assembly segments in Thrissur LS constituency

20
No of LS seats in Kerala