BJP gains a foothold in Kerala even as results bring cheer to UDF and cold comfort for LDF

Narendra Modi's BJP gains ground in Kerala as Suresh Gopi secures a stunning victory in Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to gain a toehold for the BJP in South India paid off surprisingly in Kerala, with the party’s celebrity candidate, Suresh Gopi, stomping to a stunning victory in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. 

The veteran actor defied political pundits by posting a lead of 75,000 votes over his closest rival, V.S. Sunilkumar of the Communist Party of India (CPI). Mr Gopi also relegated Congress’s political warhorse, K. Muraleedharan, to third place on the latter’s home turf.

In the hindsight, Mr. Modi’s electioneering travel pattern in South India made political sense. He actively campaigned for Mr. Gopi in Thrissur and made several back-to-back visits to Kerala. Mr. Modi used Kerala as a staging area for his electioneering forays into neighbouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Mr. Gopi’s odyssey from actor to politician commenced in 2019 when he lost the battle for the Thrissur LS constituency to his Congress rival. Since then, Mr. Gopi zealously chased victory in Thrissur that appeared elusive till Tuesday.

Mr. Gopi became popular in the 1980s by playing an angry young man striving to upend the status quo. Nearly three decades later, he lived up to his screen persona by disrupting the political status quo in Kerala.

His victory in Thrissur and the BJP’s gain in vote share in other constituencies belied the LDF-UDF narrative that the BJP was an outcast in State politics.

Mr. Modi’s gambit in South India was to deny the INDIA Bloc allies, especially the Congress, CPI(M), and the DMK, political space to prevent them from emerging as a national-level political bloc in the 202 LS polls. His push, however, petered out in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.