Malayalam star Suresh Gopi all set for RS entry

The Narendra Modi government has nominated action hero Suresh Gopi to the Rajya Sabha raising hopes among Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadres in Kerala that they will soon have a minister in the Modi government.

The actor, who had joined the BJP last year, was nominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the art category, said party's union minister, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, who had earlier promised that Kerala will get a berth in the union cabinet if they elected one party man to the state assembly. The state leaders expect Gopi, who has been a star campaigner for the party since the last Lok Sabha election, to find a place in the ministry as a represen- tative of Kerala during the next cabinet expansion, which is expected after the completion of the ongoing assembly elections in five states. This was the first time that the state (Kerala) has gone unrepresented in the BJP ministry. The last BJP-led government led by Atal Behari Vajpaee had senior state leader O Rajagopal elected to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh and made him a member of the union ministry with the important portfolios.

Suresh Gopi has described his nomination as a gift by Modi to the people of Kerala. He said that he will use the position for the betterment of the people. “I will work for Kerala even without sleep,” he told reporters after offering worship at the Pazhavngadi temple in the state capital.

The 55-year-old actor, who has acted in more than 200 films, was earlier offered the post of chairman of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) of India, but it could not materialise due to some technical reasons.

Though the party had approached him to contest the assembly election from the state capital, the actor declined the offer and chose to campaign for the party-led coalition. Since then he has been actively campaigning for National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidates in various parts of the state. He is expected to accompany the Prime Minister during his campaign tours in the state next month and also share the podium with him. Modi is scheduled to address six public meetings as part of his election campaign in the state.