Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 20 Malayalam movie star and Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi, will in all likelihood contest the upcoming assembly election from the Nemom assembly seat in the state capital district as a BJP candidate, said a top party source.
The Kerala Assembly polls are likely to be held in May next year and the state BJP unit has started to zero in on its candidates in certain crucial seats.
In 2016, BJP candidate and former Union Minister O. Rajagopal created history by winning the first ever assembly seat for the BJP, which until then had drawn a blank in the 140 member Kerala Legislative Assembly.
He defeated sitting CPI-M legislator V. Sivankutty by over 8000 votes and pushed the Congress led UDF candidate to a poor third place in the Nemom constituency.
"Rajagopal, who has had a long innings in politics is now 91 years old. So, the party's state unit doesn't wish to take any chances. We have zeroed in on Gopi, who is presently a hugely popular figure cutting across the political spectrum," said a BJP source on condition of anonymity.
The 62-year-old actor's tryst with the BJP in general and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular began ever since he got a call from Modi inviting him for his swearing in ceremony in 2014. Since then he has had no reason to look back and two years later he got another surprise when he was nominated to the Upper House.
For the BJP, Nemom is a prestigious political battle, since it cannot afford to lose its only assembly seat, even when it's confident of increasing its tally.
( With inputs from IANS )
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