After a much anticipated electoral fight, the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) star candidate actor Suresh Gopi has ascended to victory in Kerala’s Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. This is a major leap for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala, where they have been struggling to open an account, and Gopi is the BJP’s first candidate from the state to win in a general election.
Thrissur was a hot seat, with high-profile candidates – Suresh Gopi (NDA), K Muraleedharan (UDF), and VS Sunil Kumar (LDF)-- locked in a fierce contest, and from the early rounds of counting itself, Gopi maintained a consistent majority, finally winning with a total of 412338 votes and a margin of 74686 votes. Sunil Kumar candidate came second with 337652 votes, and K Muraleedharan came third with 328124 votes.
Addressing his voters as ‘Praja Daivangal’ (subjects as powerful as the gods), Suresh Gopi called his victory a reflection of their blessings for him. Earlier, there was a controversy over himi addressing his voters as ‘praja’, an undemocratic term used to denote citizens under a monarchy. "I call the people of Thrissur praja daivangal. Their decision has blessed my party and me. We all know Thrissur’s special demographic terrain, and if any of you think my victory is a wonder, this wonder was imminent. This victory brings immense prestige to my family, just like my national award for the movie Kaliyattam. My children, my family, and my cinematic accolades are all blessings for me, but this victory is a divine shower upon all these blessings," Gopi told the media.
Read: BJP's hope in Kerala: Suresh Gopi, the Superstar who fell short
Known for its unpredictable voting patterns, Thrissur has seen its sitting MPs suffer defeat in the past six consecutive elections, with the LDF and the UDF alternating victories over the years.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been eyeing Thrissur as a prestige constituency since 2019, was represented by popular Malayalam film actor Suresh Gopi.
Despite losing by over 100,000 votes in 2019, Suresh Gopi has been a frequent presence in Thrissur over the last five years, engaging in extensive philanthropic activities, visiting churches and temples, and exhibiting his contributions towards individuals, panchayats, settlements, etc. His efforts have been part of the BJP’s larger strategy, dubbed 'Operation Thrissur'. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also made multiple visits to the temple town to boost the party’s prospects.
Read: Behind Suresh Gopi’s bid to win Thrissur for BJP, philanthropy and realpolitik
Initially, the Congress had planned to field sitting MP TN Prathapan, who had already started his campaign. However, the political dynamics shifted dramatically with the last-minute candidature of K Muraleedharan from the UDF, sitting MP from Vadakara. The Congress’s confidence was notably shaken when Muraleedharan’s sister Padmaja Venugopal (both Murali and Padmaja are children of Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran) defected from the Congress to join the BJP.
Their strategic move to bring in Muraleedharan, despite his past defeats in the Thrissur district elections in 1998 (Lok Sabha) and 2004 (Wadakkancherry assembly constituency), added to the complexity of the race.
LDF candidate, VS. Sunil Kumar also brought his own clout to the contest. A familiar figure in the constituency, Sunil Kumar has a strong electoral record, having won from the Thrissur Assembly constituency in 2016 and from Kaipamangalam in 2011. His candidacy further intensified the competition in this high-stakes seat.
Suresh Gopi, who secured 293,822 votes (28.19%) in 2019—a 17% increase from the previous election—was counting on the constituency’s demographic mix which includes 49% Hindu, 35% Christian, and 16% Muslim voters. However, recent reports had suggested that the BJP faced challenges due to the backlash over the Manipur violence, with the Thrissur diocese repeatedly expressing dissent.
Thrissur’s political history is marked by notable defeats of prominent figures such as K Karunakaran, K Muraleedharan, and Padmaja Venugopal. From 1952 to 2019, the constituency has sided with the LDF ten times and with the UDF seven times. In the 2019 election, TN Prathapan of the Congress secured victory with 415,089 votes, amounting to 39.83% of the total votes. CPI’s Rajaji Mathew Thomas came in second with 321,456 votes (30.85%), while Suresh Gopi of the BJP finished third, securing 293,822 votes, which represented 28.19% of the 1,042,122 votes cast.