Star but a loose cannon: Why Suresh Gopi is a double-edged sword for Kerala BJP

Last week, in the Rajya Sabha, Union minister Suresh Gopi unleashed a performance that could have been ripped straight from one of his blockbuster Malayalam films.

It was April 3, and the debate over the Waqf (Amendment) Bill (now Act) had reached a feverish pitch. Facing off against CPI(M) MP John Brittas, Gopi didn’t just argue—he erupted. His voice boomed, his gestures wild, as he countered Brittas’s pointed jabs with a theatrical flair that left the chamber buzzing.

Vintage Gopi in Parliament

Brittas had slyly likened the treasury benches to “Munna”, a snake-in-the-grass character from the controversial film L2: Empuraan, suggesting the BJP’s influence was a poison Kerala would reject.

Gopi, never one to back down, fired back with a dramatic challenge, daring Brittas and the CPI(M)-backed Kairali TV to re-release politically charged films like TP 51 and Left Right Left, which were critical of the CPI(M).

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“Do they have the guts?” he thundered, his eyes blazing, his finger jabbing the air like a hero confronting a villain on screen.

It was vintage Suresh Gopi—larger-than-life, unscripted, and utterly unpredictable.

Man of the masses

This came close on the heels of his declaration in the Lok Sabha the previous day that the resolution unanimously passed by the Kerala Assembly against the Wakf (Amendment) Bill “would be sunk in the Arabian Sea”.

Before his election as the BJP’s first-ever Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, Gopi had built a reputation as a man of the masses, his pre-election anecdotes painting him as a charismatic enigma. There was the time he reportedly stopped his convoy to give orders to a police sub-inspector to salute him with the authority of a police commissioner he’d played in countless films.

Another tale had him wading into a crowd of fish vendors in Thrissur, promising to fight for their rights with the same intensity he brought to his action roles. His supporters lapped it up, seeing in him a real-life hero who could translate cinematic bravado into political victories.

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Star power

The BJP, desperate to crack Kerala’s tough political shell, banked on his star power to draw crowds and charity initiatives to sway votes. For a while, it worked—Gopi’s rallies were electric, his speeches a blend of righteous indignation and populist promises that had the cadre cheering.

He made it a point to visit churches and mosques—offering a golden crown to Our Lady of Lourdes Metropolitan Cathedral and receiving Ramzan porridge from a city mosque.

He courted controversy too — for his condescending behaviour towards a woman TV reporter, violating her privacy by touching her despite her clear expression of displeasure, an incident that led to an FIR being filed against him.

Headache for Kerala BJP

Fast forward to his tenure as a Union minister, and the same qualities that once made Gopi a crowd-puller morphed into a migraine for the Kerala BJP. His maverick streak, once a strength, was now a liability.

Take, for instance, his run-in with journalists outside Kochi airport just days before that Rajya Sabha showdown. Surrounded by mics and cameras, Gopi was asked for him remarks on the attacks on Christians in Jabalpur. Instead of a measured response, he lost his cool, his voice rising to a shout that echoed through the terminal.

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“Who are you? I have nothing to say to the media. My words are for the people. I’ve had enough of your nonsense!” he bellowed, flailing his arms as if shooing away a swarm of flies. Then, with a flourish worthy of a movie climax, he turned and strode off, leaving the reporters stunned and the footage viral.

When asked about CPI(M) MP John Brittas’s remark that they would close the account the BJP had opened in Thrissur, Gopi responded aggressively, suggesting that a certain word in the statement—clearly alluding to an expletive—should be replaced.

Less of a statesman, more of a celeb

To his fans, it was Gopi the action star in full form. But to the BJP as a party, it was another mess to clean up. Even sympathizers winced—here was a minister acting less like a statesman and more like a petulant celebrity.

“I haven’t examined the matter in detail. I don’t know who provoked whom, so I won’t be commenting on it,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the newly appointed state president of the BJP and former Union minister, when asked about the incident by reporters.

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All-round rebuke

“Suresh Gopi is a simpleton who still moves to the whims of scriptwriters. He hasn’t been able to shed his screen persona,” Brittas told The Federal. “Even his own party colleagues aren’t pleased with his theatrics. Maybe it’s time he found a good scriptwriter for politics too—just like he had during his days playing police roles in hit Malayalam films.”

The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) didn’t mince words in their protest note. “Suresh Gopi must end this hostility toward the media,” their statement read, dripping with indignation. “His inability to respond sensibly reflects a failure to mature into the role of a Union minister. This clownery of pouring contempt and issuing threats must stop.”

The rebuke stung, especially coming from a body that had once given Gopi the benefit of the doubt. Party leaders, already weary of his loose-cannon style, felt the heat. His snub to the press wasn’t just a personal outburst—it was a crack in the BJP’s carefully curated image in a state where every misstep was magnified by rivals like the CPI(M) and Congress.

A controversial cap

Then came the dig from KB Ganesh Kumar, a rival politician and state minister of transport, with a knack for cutting remarks.

“I had told you all before the election that he (Gopi) would be like this. He is the kind of man who displayed a police officer’s cap in his car after playing the role of Bharat Chandran (an IPS officer in a blockbuster),” he sneered to the press in Palakkad. “Those who thought ‘no big deal’ during the election can enjoy the show now.”

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However, right after the minister’s remark, Gopi’s social media team swiftly sprang into action, circulating a video of him handing over the same police cap to a 12-year-old Muslim boy—a survivor of a domestic violence case from a few years ago.

A double-edged sword

While speaking to The Federal, more than one BJP leader described Gopi as “passionate”, their tone diplomatic but strained. “We’re functioning as a team,” they insisted. Privately, however, there was discontent. “He’s more focused on playing the hero than strengthening the party,” one leader told The Federal over the phone. “What we need is discipline, not theatrics”, he added.

Once hailed as the BJP’s trump card in Kerala, Gopi has started looking like a double-edged sword. His star power can still draw crowds, but his antics are alienating the very machinery he was meant to strengthen.

The Rajya Sabha faceoff with Brittas was a hit on social media—clips of Gopi’s fiery retort racked up views—but it did little to advance the party’s ground game. His shouting match with journalists only deepened the perception of a man out of his depth, while Ganesh Kumar’s taunt and the KUWJ’s protest note fuelled the narrative of a leader unravelling.

The saffron party had bet big on Suresh Gopi, but as his dramatic saga unfolded, they couldn’t shake the nagging question: was their action hero more trouble than he was worth?