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Ending its over-seven-decades-long political drought in Kerala, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday finally opened its account in the state through actor-turned politician Suresh Gopi, who cemented his historic victory with a massive lead of over 74,686 votes in the Thrissur Lok Sabha segment.
Gopi defeated Communist Party of India leader VS Sunilkumar in an exciting fight.
While Gopi garnered a total of 4,12,338 votes, Sunilkumar had to make do with 3,37,652 votes, according to the EC figures.
Congress's senior leader and MP K Muraleedharan settled in the third position with 3,28,124 votes, it said.
The result came as a rude shock for the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front and the Congress-headed United Democratic Front, which even till the last minute rubbished the various exit polls that predicted a Gopi victory and the chances of the lotus blooming in the state.
The political rivals asserted that the fight would be between their candidates VS Sunilkumar (CPI) and K Muraleedharan (Congress).
The counting of postal votes even gave the impression that their calculations might go right, as Sunilkumar initially enjoyed an upper hand.
But Gopi came into the picture in the subsequent rounds, increased his lead consistently, and then there was no looking back.
With a strong lead and impressive victory, Suresh Gopi has proved wrong the long-held belief of the traditional fronts that Kerala would remain elusive for the saffron party as always.
The national award-winning actor had earlier tried his luck in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2021 assembly election from the same central Kerala constituency, but the voters had given him the thumbs down then.
However, Gopi, who was reluctant to backtrack from politics, consistently concentrated in Thrissur and spent the lion's share of his funds as Rajya Sabha MP here in these years, eying the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
A staunch loyalist of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gopi had to face not only the criticism of political rivals but also harsh and sarcastic trolls throughout his political journey so far.
His mass dialogue "Thrissur njaningedukkuva (I am taking Thrissur)", made during the time of the previous election, was widely discussed in political circles of the state but was largely used by opponents to mock him after the drubbing he received in 2021.
A recent harassment case filed by a woman journalist was also a challenge in his political career.
The actor and his family's offering of a golden crown to a cathedral in the constituency also triggered a row.
However, the BJP national leadership, especially PM Modi, backed Gopi to the hilt and gave him a party ticket to contest from Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, yet again.
Modi attended the marriage ceremony of Gopi's elder daughter at the famed Guruvayoor Sri Krishna temple here in January this year, giving a clear indication that they had complete faith that he could be their key to step foot into Kerala.
Thrissur's total voters are a little over 14.83 lakh. According to the latest updates, 10,81,125 votes were polled.
Thrissur, a sitting constituency of the Congress party, has a considerable presence of the minority Christian community along with the majority Hindus.
While talking to reporters from his home in Thiruvananthapuram, Gopi expressed gratitude to the people of Thrissur and the gods for his historic victory.
He said he had to undergo several "struggles" and "swam against the flow" to achieve the victory.
Calling the people of the constituency as 'praja daivangal' (subjects who are gods), he described Modi as his "political god."