As talks begin of Union cabinet rejig, Kerala's Suresh Gopi's name surfaces

Thiruvananthapuruam, Dec 31 With a likely cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it is speculated that popular actor Suresh Gopi might get a berth.

Gopi, who till April, was a nominated member by BJP to the Rajya Sabha, was keen to get an extension and he wished that the extension comes with a cabinet berth.

Gopi was a candidate at the 2019 Lok Sabha poll from the Trissur constituency and also in the 2021 Trissur assembly constituency, and on both occasions, he gave a fright to the second placed candidate and was generally appreciated by all that someone with no political experience, put up a good fight.

One reason why Gopi's name comes up each time when there is a talk on cabinet expansion, is because the national BJP for long has been desperate to enter Lok Sabha from Kerala and the solace for them has been the best that the performance so far has been by BJP veteran O. Rajagopal at the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. When he came second and in 2019, BJP leader Kummanam Rajasekheran also finished second.

The national BJP leadership feels that their best chance is at Thiruvananthapuram and Gopi, who resides in the state capital, is the best face they can put up. Likewise another seat which the party feels can put up a good fight is Trissur and there too, Gopi is popular.

And with that in mind, there is a chance that Gopi's induction might be fruitful for the BJP to open its account in the Lok Sabha.

In the first Modi cabinet, K.J. Alphons was in the cabinet and after his term in the Upper House ended early this year, he does not hold any post other than being a member in the party national executive.

Incidentally, there are two Malayalees in Modi's cabinet - V. Muraleedharan and Rajiv Chandrasekhar.

But the hard reality that stares at the BJP leadership is that the lone assembly seat that they won in the 2016 assembly polls was lost to CPI-M at the 2021 assembly polls and hence eyeing a victory to Lok Sabha in 2024 from Kerala might be a far-fetched dream and hence, Gopi will have to keep his fingers crossed for some more time.

And in case Gopi gets the nod, then he will have to be elected to the Upper House from some other state.

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