How the BJP finally breached the Kerala bastion with Gopi’s Thrissur victory

The victory of actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency marks the successful culmination of a long wait for Sangh Parivar units in Kerala, as rightly pointed out by the BJP’s in-charge for the state, Prakash Javadekar.

After much waiting, Gopi opened the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) account in Kerala, with a margin of more than 74,000 votes, triumphing against former state agriculture minister and Communist Party of India (CPI) leader VS Sunil Kumar and Congress heavyweight K Muraleedharan in the constituency known as the cultural capital of Kerala.
“We are jubilant about this resounding victory. The Congress and the CPI(M) both attempted minority appeasement to woo Christians and Muslims to their folds. Now, it is visible that at least a section of minorities favour us, which is why Gopi has won,” BJP former state president C K Padmanabhan told Hindustan Times.
ALSO READ| Shashi Tharoor wins in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram constituency by 16,077 votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections
Gopi’s victory in Thrissur, a constituency that has shown no visible sympathy towards the BJP in the past, is significant, as the rest of Kerala preferred the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), leaving only the Alathur constituency to the state’s CPI(M)-led ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). Opening an account in Kerala was a long-standing target for Sangh Parivar, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) establishing the largest number of shakhas across the country in the state.
Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the BJP’s predecessor, was active in the state since its formation in 1951; however, no Sangh Parivar leader was able to get elected to the upper house of Parliament from Kerala. Known for its secular, inclusive, and progressive politics, Kerala has always rejected communal politics and favoured coalitions by either Congress or CPI(M).
However, the BJP made history in the state for the first time in May 2016 when O Rajagopal was elected to the state assembly from the Nemom constituency in Thiruvananthapuram district, defeating the CPI(M) strongman and present Kerala education minister V Sivankutty by a margin of 8000 votes. However, the party failed to retain the account in subsequent elections.
However, in a setback for the BJP, Union minister Rajiv Chandrasekhar lost the Thiruvananthapuram seat to Shashi Tharoor, despite clear leads in the initial counting phases. Tharoor largely banked on support from the Latin Catholic and Nadar community voters who traditionally maintain animosity toward the BJP brand of politics.
The credit for Gopi’s victory can be attributed to the robust support from the BJP’s central leadership, despite initial objections from the party’s state unit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally selected Gopi for Thrissur and assured a high-voltage campaign. PM Modi held a road show at Thrissur, in support of Gopi’s candidature and even attended Gopi’s daughter’s wedding ceremony at the famed Guruvayur Sree Krishna temple before the elections.
In a bid to appeal to Thrissur’s Christian community, Gopi offered a golden crown to the statue of St. Mary at the Lourdes metropolitan cathedral in Thrissur in January. Though some of the laity objected, saying the offered crown contained more copper than gold, Gopi made several efforts to gain the community’s confidence.
A close confidant of Modi, he has been a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha for a five-year term since April 2016. Notably, Gopi had suffered a defeat in the same constituency in previous parliamentary and assembly elections, with setbacks in 2019 and 2021.
Starting in 2019, Gopi has been travelling to every nook and cranny of Thrissur, mingling freely with people from different walks of life. The constituency has several beneficiaries of the charity organisation he established in memory of his daughter Lakshmy, who died in a road accident in her childhood. Recently, he led an 18-kilometre padayatra to mount public opinion against a cooperative bank scam allegedly orchestrated by local CPI (M) leaders.
Known as the “angry young man” of Malayalam cinema, Gopi was initially involved in student politics through the CPI(M)’s student organisation, Student Federation of India, followed by unsuccessful attempts at electoral victory with the Congress, or CPI(M), leading to him joining the BJP in 2016.
During his campaign, Gopi faced a sexual harassment case after a journalist alleged that he behaved inappropriately with her during a media interaction. The controversy arose when Gopi reportedly placed his hand on the journalist’s shoulder twice without her consent at a hotel in Kozhikode. The BJP leadership had dismissed the case as political harassment by the Vijayan government and extended support to the actor.
KPCC president K. Sudhakaran, who won in Kannur, alleged that Gopi was able to win the Thrissur seat because of a tacit understanding between BJP and Kerala’s ruling LDF, which allegedly wanted to avoid central agency investigations into financial dealings involving the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his immediate family. Though the LDF has not officially responded to the development, the alliance has started a social media campaign, saying Congress sold its traditional votes to the BJP in Thrissur to prevent an LDF victory.
Gopi unsuccessfully contested from Thrissur in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and also tested his mettle in the last assembly election. In 2019, he won 293,822 votes, giving a tough fight to Congress’ Prathapan. BJP leaders say he polled more votes than the party’s 2014 candidate, K P Sreesan.
However, in the assembly election, Gopi won 31.3% of the votes and facilitated the winning of the CPI candidate over top Congress leader Padmaja Venugopal, the daughter of the late chief minister K Karunakaran. Interestingly, Padamaja joined the BJP days ahead of this election and was one of the key campaigners for Gopi, targeting her brother.
Though the Hindu Mahasabha and Jan Sangh had a presence in Kerala since the state was founded, the Sangh Parivar proved its strength in the state in 1964 by holding a mammoth national meeting of Jan Sangh in which Deen Dayal Upadhyay was elected the national chief.
The biggest mass mobilisation in the case of Jan Sangh happened in Kerala in 1967 when the communist government of E M Namboodiripad constituted the Muslim-majority Malappuram district by merging parts of Palakkad and Kozhikode districts.
Opposing the move, the Jan Sangh had organised large-scale mobilisations across the state. However, despite mobilisations, electoral gains remained a distant dream for the Sangh Parivar even after the BJP’s state unit was consistently engaged in outreach to voters.
Despite the saffron party’s expanding electoral footprint elsewhere in the country, the bipolar political space occupied by the CPI(M) and Congress-led coalitions has historically limited its growth.
Even though Gopi’s victory opened the BJP’s account in the state, the double-digit figure anticipated by PM Modi failed to materialise. Though BJP maintained high expectations in the Pathanamthitta, Attingal and Palakkad seats, they all went to Congress.
Catch every big hit, every wicket with Crick-it, a one stop destination for Live Scores, Match Stats, Quizzes, Polls & much moreExplore now!