Popular Malayalam actor and BJP Rajya Sabha Member (MP) Suresh Gopi visited the house of Abhimanyu, the Student Front of India (SFI) leader who was stabbed to death last week.
Abhimanyu, a second year BSc student of Chemistry, was stabbed to death earlier this week by members of Campus Front of India (CFI), the student body of Popular Front of India (PFI).
On Saturday, the MP visited Abhimanyu's family at their home in Vattavada in Idukki district, reportedly along with local BJP and RSS members. The actor-turned-politician is now drawing flak for clicking 'happy' selfies while on a visit to the grief-stricken family.
Several selfies of Suresh Gopi, along with local residents of Vattavada and party members surfaced on social media, soon after his visit. Suresh Gopi can be seen smiling widely, as he posed for selfies with the people and party workers. Suresh Gopi's visit was soon termed as a "cinematic entry" and he was at the receiving end of criticism.
Communist leader and former legislator V Sivankutty took to Facebook to criticise Suresh Gopi for his act and questioned the kind of politics he was resorting to. Sivankutty hit out at Suresh Gopi, saying that the latter had resorted to "absurdities" at a time when the people of Idukki were trying to overcome the grief of losing Abhimanyu.
"We have seen so many people crying for Abhimanyu, who was killed by Muslim communal forces. How can he (Suresh Gopi) smile so happily? I guess your mental composure has gone low after you joined BJP, so much so that you took selfies there! That's because the kind of politics BJP is doing in the country, is ugly. You are a member of that party and people do not expect any better from you," Sivankutty wrote in Malayalam.
Sivankutty went on to say that it was better that Suresh Gopi left the place, "before we decided to react."