Will the celebrated stentorian voice turn Vox Populi?

The crowd at Ollukkara NSS Karayogam Hall was largely made up of women. “We came here to catch a glimpse of Suresh Gopi, the actor. People around here admire him,” says Rossy, an elderly woman. She had brought her two grandchildren along with her. On a Friday morning as Suresh Gopi, BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Thrissur stepped out from the vehicle and walked towards the gathering outside the hall with hands folded in a namaste, many in the crowd pulled out their mobile phones to take his picture.

While their admiration for him as an actor was evident, their perception of him as a candidate was less certain. Some even held their kids on their shoulders, each trying to get a glimpse of the actor who spoke only for a few minutes. As he headed back to his vehicle, Rossy urged her grandchildren to wave their hands at the actor. The BJP party brass is expecting that the big turnout of women at the actor’s public rallies will translate into votes.

Suresh Gopi had secured a 28% vote share in the 2019 general elections and came third in the constituency. This was the highest vote share garnered by a BJP candidate in the state in that election. At each meeting, Suresh Gopi encouraged the crowd to exercise their franchise without fail. He also urged them to think before casting a vote.

“While casting your vote, you should consider this. What are the contributions made by former MPs to the Thrissur constituency over the past 10 years? When you cast a vote, you should realize that it is for the country. You should consider who should win and form the government for the country’s benefit,” he says. At the Thrissur corporation office where the candidate made a pitstop, the office employees crowded around him.

Those who had come for official business also jostled around the actor. Most of the crowd again consisted of women. While leaving, Gopi posed for a photograph with the people around him. who were at the corporation for official business. Jeevaratnam, an elderly woman, was waiting outside to seek the actor’s help to get her pension but the crowd surrounding him made it difficult for her to get close.

“The staff at the corporation office told me that the govt doesn’t have the funds, which is causing the delay. I want to meet him to request help,” she says.