Who is Suresh Gopi, BJP’s first MP from Kerala?

In October 2016, Gopi officially joined BJP and in 2019, he contested in the 2019 Indian General Election in Kerala as a candidate of the BJP from Thrissur where he lost to Prathanapan.

Actor turned politician Suresh Gopi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) winner from Kerala’s Thrissur, helped the party open its Lok Sabha account in the southern state. Gopi won from Thrissur with a margin of 74,686 votes against VS Sunilkumar of the Communist Party of India (CPI) who came in second. Gopi received a total of 4,12,338 votes.

The BJP has never won a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala with the state having 20 Lok Sabha seats. The southern state has been a stronghold of communist parties but in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, T.N. Prathanapan of the Indian National Congress won the Thrissur seat.

Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology of India, addressed the media after the counting and said that Suresh Gopi has worked hard in Thrissur and Kerala. “We are happy and excited on BJP’s expansion in Kerala and South. Gopi worked very hard in Thrissur and Kerala,” said Chandrashekhar.

Also read: BJP opens account in Kerala as Suresh Gopi wins from Thrissur

The 65-year old winner from Thrissur was born in Alappuzha in Kerala. Gopi has three younger brothers - Subhash Gopi and the twins Sunil Gopi and Sanil Gopi. He completed his primary education in Kollam and later went on to do his Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology and Master of Arts degree in English literature.

Gopi made his acting debut in 1965 as a child actor. Later, Gopi starred in several popular films including Manichithrathazhu, A Northern Story of Valor and Oru CBI Diary Kurippu.

In October 2016, Gopi officially joined BJP and in 2019, he contested in the 2019 Indian General Election in Kerala as a candidate of the BJP from Thrissur where he lost to Prathanapan.

In his election affidavit for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gopi’s showed his profession as a Cinema Artist and his total declared assets are Rs 18.6 crore which includes Rs 8.9 crore in movable assets and Rs 9.7 crore in immovable assets. His total declared income is Rs 4.6 crore of which Rs 4.4 crore is self income and he has total liabilities of Rs 1.3 crore. He has four criminal cases registered against him.