CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam has expressed concern over the BJP’s maiden victory to the Lok Sabha from Kerala and the significant increase in its vote share, calling it a serious development. Viswam’s comments come in the wake of BJP candidate Suresh Gopi’s victory from the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency and the BJP emerging as the top scorer in several assembly segments across various constituencies.
The CPI leader’s remarks underscore the party’s awareness of the BJP’s growing influence in Kerala, contrasting with the CPM’s reluctance to acknowledge the challenges posed by this development. Suresh Gopi defeated CPI candidate V.S. Sunil Kumar and Congress’s K. Muraleedharan. The CPI is the second-largest constituent of the LDF, following the CPM.
The CPM-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) repeated its poor performance from 2019, securing only 1 out of 20 seats in the state. State minister K. Radhakrishnan of the CPM, from the Alathur constituency, is the lone LDF winner, equating the performance of both the CPM (LDF) and BJP (NDA).
Thrissur voters provided a strong response to those who asserted that “Lotus Will Never Bloom in Kerala.” The LDF and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have been vocal in their claims that the BJP would never win in Kerala, emphasising the state’s secular ethos in opposition to what they describe as the BJP’s communal, reactionary, and fascist tendencies.
Some LDF leaders have described the ‘Thrissur Lotus’ as an isolated incident. However, they avoid addressing whether the LDF’s victory in Alathur is similarly an isolated case. The BJP achieved a significant victory when Suresh Gopi, a BJP candidate and popular matinee idol, won the Thrissur parliamentary constituency with a substantial majority of 74,868 votes.
Here are the details of the votes:
- Suresh Gopi (BJP/NDA): 412,338
- V S Sunilkumar (CPI/NDA): 337,652
- K Muraleedharan (Cong/UDF): 328,124
Suresh Gopi’s vote share was 37.80 per cent, an increase of 9.60 per cent. In 2019, Suresh Gopi’s score was 293,405 and 28.20 per cent. These are the details:
- T N Prathapan (Cong/UDF) 415,089 (39.84 per cent)
- Rajaji Mathew Thomas (ISI/LDF) 321,456 (30.85 per cent)
- Suresh Gopi (BJP/NDA) 293,405 (28.20 per cent)
- NOTA 4,253 (0.41 per cent)
Details of the votes in the same constituency in 2014 are boiled down here:
Candidate Votes
- C N Jayadevan (CPI/LDF) 389,209
- K P Dhanapalan (Cong/UDF) 350,982
- K P Sreesan (BJP/NDA) 102,6811
- Sarah Joseph (AAP) 44,638
Suresh Gopi, a superstar and renowned philanthropist, won the people’s mandate due to his impeccable and compassionate character, transcending party and religious lines. His major fan base consists of women, and he also received significant support from the Christian community, as the Christian Church endorsed him. Additionally, Gopi secured votes from traditional CPM and Congress supporters.
After receiving official confirmation of his win, Suresh Gopi expressed his gratitude to the lakhs of voters and thousands of BJP workers. He dedicated his victory to Swargiya Bhaskar Raoji, the legendary Kerala Pranth Pracharak of RSS and former Akhil Bharatiya Organising Secretary of Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, as well as to popular BJP leader Swargiya K.G. Mararji, the late state president, and Swargiya P.P. Mukundan, senior RSS Pracharak and Dakshin Kshetra Organising Secretary of BJP, along with hundreds of balidanis.
Prime Minister Modi congratulated Suresh Gopi on his electoral victory. On June 4, at the BJP national headquarters in New Delhi, the Prime Minister addressed a large gathering of party workers, paying respects to the thousands of party workers and hundreds of balidanis in the state.
Suresh Gopi attributed his victory to a series of relentless battles and expressed deep gratitude to all deities, including Lourdh Mata, the presiding deity of a major church in Thrissur, and the voters for their blessings. He acknowledged that he had been swimming against the current, facing numerous personal attacks, but credited the people of Thrissur and the local Gods for saving him. Gopi mentioned that attempts were made to divert people’s minds, but divine intervention purified their thoughts and led them to support his politics.
He highlighted the support he received from women who traveled from Delhi and Madhya Pradesh to campaign for him, as well as the unwavering dedication of BJP workers over the last five years. Gopi noted that these workers provided more help and care than he had asked for. He concluded by stating that Prime Minister Modi is his political inspiration, referring to him as his “political God.”
Suresh Gopi, a native of Thiruvananthapuram, served as a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha from 2016 to 2021. During his tenure, he allocated the lion’s share of his MPLDS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) funds to Thrissur for various development programs. Additionally, he contributed significant amounts from his own earnings, derived from his acting career, to support these initiatives. Thousands of people benefited from his generosity.
These personal virtues have earned him Prime Minister Modi’s admiration, with many in Kerala seeing Suresh Gopi as the Prime Minister’s favored figure. A few months ago, PM Modi visited the Guruvayur temple to bless Suresh Gopi’s daughter and her groom on the occasion of their wedding, further highlighting the close bond between them.
The following data are very interesting:
- BJP lost Thiruvananthapuram and Attingal constituencies for minor margins of about 16,000 votes.
- BJP’s tally increased by one lakh in Alappuzha, Thrissur and Alathur constituencies.
- BJP vote share increased by 50,000 in Attingal, Kollam, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod constituencies.
BJP and NDA made large achievements in Kerala in the 2024 elections. NDA increased its vote share in 18 of 20 constituencies; Pathanamthitta and Chalakudy are the only exemptions. Meanwhile, UDF suffered vote loss in 14 constituencies. LDF suffered the same sort of loss in 15 constituencies.
NDA
- 2019: 31,56,327 votes (15.56 per cent)
- 2024: 38,37,003 votes (19.26 per cent)
- Increase of 680,676 votes
UDF
- 2019: 96,04,326 Votes (47.34 per cent)
- 2024: 90,18,752 Votes (45.16 per cent)
- Decrease of 5,85,574 votes
LDF
- 2019: 71,24,336 Votes (35.15 per cent)
- 2024: 66,65,369 Votes (33.34 per cent)
- Decrease of 4,58,967 Votes
The election results from the Kannur constituency delivered a significant blow to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and CPM state secretary M.V. Govindan, as their assembly constituencies fall within this Lok Sabha constituency. K. Sudhakaran, president of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), emerged as the top scorer in both constituencies. Notably, Sudhakaran is a long-standing adversary of both CPM stalwarts and other CPM leaders in Kannur, making his victory particularly impactful.
These are the eleven assembly segments where BJP came first:
- Nemom, Thiruvananthapuram District
- Kazkakkoottam , Thiruvananthapuram District
- Vattiyoorkkavu, Thiruvananthapuram District
- Attingal, Thiruvananthapuram District
- Kattakkada, Thiruvananthapuram District
- Thrissur, Thrissur District
- Olloor, Thrissur District
- Nattika, Thrissur District
- Irinjalakkuda, Thrissur District
- Putukkad, Thrissur District
- Manaloor, Thrissur District
BJP came second in the following assembly segments:
- Thiruvananthapuram, Thiruvananthapuram District
- Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram District
- Neyyanttinkara, Thiruvananthapuram District
- Harippad, Alappusha District
- Kayamkulam, Alappuzha District
- Palakkad, Palakkad District
- Manjeswaram, Kasaragod District
- Kasaragod, Kasaragod District
The bold fact underscores that BJP is the future of Kerala. This achievement is the result of the tireless efforts of party members, including men and women in the state, as well as hundreds of RSS and BJP balidanis who sacrificed their lives for their cherished ideology. Gone are the days of isolation and humiliation; now, it is a bright era of widespread acceptance. The time is approaching when BJP will wield significant influence in the state’s affairs.
