Local BJP deems Modi factor a plus for Suresh Gopi against 'Leader's Son'

SURESH Gopi, the BJP's celebrity candidate for the Thrissur seat, is giving himself an afternoon makeover. He is stirring henna in a small brown bowl.

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Actor-politician or acting politician? "Actor politician, of course," Gopi laughs out aloud.

Gopi, one of Kerala's best known and best loved actors, is on his second act, trying to win hearts and minds in Thrissur.

His presence is unmissable, the difference being seeing him in election posters instead of film adverts. He projects himself as an Ivanhoe of the poor, and recalls the role he played as a Rajya Sabha MP to help constituents in economic distress.

"Each time, I staged a sit-in without drinking a drop of water. Usually political leaders travelling in cars always drink water," he says sotto voce.

Gopi sees himself as a nationalist with a clear economic vision, quoting Amit Shah's direction on local cooperative bank policies when he visited Thrissur. He recalls the Congress blocking his bill. "I asked Shashi chettan (elder brother) why he voted against my bill, which would get the poor jobs.

He arrogantly answered that the Congress has a duty to the alliance and so many cooperative banks would be affected," Gopi recalls.

The NDA candidate's house is on a quiet suburban street; a traditional Kerala home with gables, clay-tiled roof, wooden pillars supported by eaves, and large windows. Kerala seems to be returning to its original, but hybrid architectural ethos; the multicoloured concrete construction trend popular after the Gulf boom is slowly giving way to the aesthetics of the past.