Suresh Gopi’s victory and Thrissur Pooram disruption not linked, says Surendran

BJP's K. Surendran denies Pooram disruptions influenced Suresh Gopi's victory, accuses Opposition of baseless allegations.

BJP State president K. Surendran has said that actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi’s victory from the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency as a National Democratic Alliance candidate had nothing to do with the disruptions of the Pooram festivities.

He told the media on Sunday (September 8, 2024) that Mr. Gopi had managed to get votes from the minority population too. “Mr. Gopi had a clear lead in Christian-dominated Ollur. He also managed to get a good number of votes from Muslim-dominated areas such as Guruvayur and Chavakkad. Will Muslims and Christians vote for him because the Pooram festivities were disrupted?”, Mr. Surendran asked.

The BJP leader’s statement is against the backdrop of Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan’s allegation that Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) M.R. Ajith Kumar and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale had met in Thrissur in 2023 and a plan was hatched there to disrupt the Pooram festivities. The effort was to exploit the sentiments of the majority community and to help Mr. Gopi win the election.

Mr. Surendran claimed that Mr. Satheesan’s allegations were completely baseless, and accused the Opposition leader of acting at the behest of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He also said that Mr. Satheesan and his colleagues in the Congress had made K. Muraleedharan, who was the United Democratic Front candidate from Thrissur, a scapegoat by fielding him there. Mr. Muraleedharan, according to Mr. Satheesan’s recent admission, had no winning chance there, Mr. Surendran added.