Is Suresh Gopi in the reckoning for Kerala BJP chief's post?
Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 25 : It's been a while since the name of superstar Suresh Gopi taking over as the new Kerala BJP president has been in the air and it appears to have gained momentum after the news surfaced that he is leaving for Delhi on Sunday.
And according to sources in the know of things, Gopi is meeting both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the coming week.
Gopi was nominated to the Upper House in April 2016 and in between, contested two elections - the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Trissur and the recent 2021 Assembly polls, from the Trissur Assembly constituency - on a BJP ticket, but had to bite the dust both times.
Ever since the BJP lost its only seat in the Kerala Assembly polls held on April 6 and also saw its vote share decline, the national leadership of the BJP has been cut up with the present leadership led by State president K. Surendran.
Moreover, for long the Kerala unit of the BJP is a divided house with leaders attached to factions playing spoil sport to the fortunes of the party and it's here, why the name of Gopi is being heard.
Moreover, Surendran is presently entangled in a few cases which includes an election case, in which he has already been questioned and a fresh notice has been sent to him asking him to appear again, likewise in another case, which involves money transactions during the recent April 6 assembly elections, he has been asked to give his voice sample by a court, after an audio clip surfaced where his sound is heard talking to another party leader about money.
And joining the fray for the removal of Surendran was 74-year-old once powerful former organising secretary of the Kerala BJP - P.P. Mukundan.
"It's best that Surendran steps aside in the wake of the cases against him. And as and when he gets his name cleared, he can always return. The stage today is the BJP here is struggling," said Mukundan.
The one big advantage that Gopi has is he is an acceptable person to the large number of apolitical BJP supporters and it's where the eyes of the national leadership is, as all along in Kerala the frontline BJP leaders and the leadership failed to make headway and also Gopi has a good relationship with the Catholic Church.
So the coming days will reveal, if Gopi is destined for newer heights, while state BJP leaders will have a few anxious moments.