Actor Suresh Gopi may give up ministerial berth, not happy with MoS rank: Sources

Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who was sworn in as a minister of state in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet on Sunday (June 9), is considering relinquishing the position, sources said.

While Gopi has cited commitments towards his upcoming film projects as the reason for the decision, BJP sources say that he is actually disappointed in being handed down a minister of state (MoS) position while he was expecting a higher rank.

“I have asked the party leadership to release me from the ministerial position. I need to fulfil my commitments to the films I am already involved in. I trust the party will understand my situation and relieve me from these new responsibilities,” he told a Malayalam TV channel after the swearing-in ceremony. During the campaign, the BJP had said that Gopi would receive a cabinet position if he was elected from Thrissur.

Sources in the state BJP unit hinted that they were expecting at least a ministry with independent charge for Gopi, if not a cabinet berth. Instead, the party leadership decided to appoint two ministerial positions from Kerala, including Minority Morcha and BJP leader George Kurian.

Dream win for BJP

Meanwhile, political opponents have begun mocking Gopi, pointing out that he only received the MoS position, a rank also given to V Muraleedharan, who has consistently lost elections in Kerala. Gopi is the first BJP candidate from Kerala to win a Lok Sabha election, defeating CPI's VS Sunilkumar by a margin of over 70,000 votes and pushing Congress heavyweight K Muraleedharan to the third place. BJP workers in Kerala were in a celebratory mood, anticipating a key portfolio with Cabinet rank for Gopi. The media had also speculated that the BJP national leadership was set to acknowledge his significant victory. Earlier, former union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who lost to Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram, tweeted that he was ending his political career, but later retracted the statement.

Gopi refused ministerial berth before swearing-in

Post his victory too, Gopi had reportedly expressed his reluctance to accept a ministerial berth in the government, citing his commitment to the people of Thrissur and agreements he had signed for a couple of movies, one of which is produced by the company of megastar Mammootty, whom he affectionately calls Mammookka.

According to PTI, he had returned to Kerala after attending the NDA MPs' meeting, but he got a call from Modi on Sunday, asking him to reach Delhi immediately.

"He (Modi) decided. I obeyed," Gopi said, before rushing to the airport with his family.

Known for his 'mass' performances in action and drama films, Gopi's nearly decade-long efforts helped him turn the BJP's long-held dream into reality by winning the central Kerala constituency of Thrissur.

The common workers as well as the top brass of the BJP are elated by the national film award winner's poll victory from the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat.

The constituency holds a special place in Modi's heart, as it is home to the Guruvayur Lord Krishna temple, a famous Vaishnavite shrine he visited soon after assuming office as prime minister for the second consecutive term in 2019.

Thrissur witnessed a three-way contest for the Lok Sabha polls, with major candidates from the Congress, BJP, and CPI locked in a neck-and-neck battle. Gopi took on the UDF candidate, senior Congress leader Muraleedharan, and Left leader and former Kerala minister, CPI's Sunil Kumar, in Thrissur.