Mohanlal's election candidature: Will it become a gamechanger for BJP in Kerala?

After Mohanlal met Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day back, several national media outlets reported that the 'Pulimurugan' star is going to contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency against Shashi Tharoor. Even though Mohanlal has not commented on anything regarding his candidature, RSS kingpins believe that the actor will be convinced soon and he will hold the saffron flag in the next election.

Mohanlal's meeting with Narendra Modi was organized by top leaders of RSS, apparently without the knowledge of BJP leaders in Kerala. It should be noted that such a meeting with Narendra Modi has fetched Suresh Gopi a seat to Rajya Sabha a few years back. RSS leaders believe that the inclusion of Mohanlal in their lineup will change the whole face of BJP in Kerala, and they hope that the Superstar will emerge as the trump card to affirm their presence in the South Indian state.

How Mohanlal's candidature will help BJP to fix their roots in Kerala? Let us check it out.

Mohanlal: The Humanitarian

The history of Kerala politics has been not that favorable for film stars. Unlike Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra were film stars used to evolve as chief ministers of the state, people in Kerala were always reluctant to elect celebrities as the people's representatives. This trend witnessed a drastic change when Innocent was elected as the member of parliament in the previous Lok Sabha elections. Later, filmstar Mukesh was also elected as the MLA from the Kollam legislative assembly. Interestingly, both of these actors won the election with the support of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).

In Kerala, people are often hesitant to embrace BJP, especially due to their strong Hindutwa stand. As Mohanlal enters the scene, RSS and BJP houses believe that things are going to take a drastic turn. The actor has a huge fan following in all nooks of the state, and he is now widely known as a humanitarian too.

ViswaSanthi Foundation, an NGO named after Mohanlal's parents have been doing many social works for the past several years, and it has given the Superstar a social worker image among the general public. Considering all these factors, RSS leaders strongly believe that Mohanlal's entry into the party will become a gamechanger in Kerala politics.

The Thiruvananthapuram factor

Even though the actor has not given a positive nod, RSS leaders are planning to nominate Mohanlal in the Thiruvananthapuram constituency. The reigning member of parliament from the constituency is none other than Shashi Tharoor. In the previous election, Shashi Tharoor won the contest against BJP's O Rajagopal in a very narrow margin which indicates that the saffron party has a decent number of followers in the area.

As Mohanlal enters the scene, RSS leaders expect to increase the number of votes apart from these regular party followers. Mohanlal also hails from the 'Nair' community, and RSS might be planning to play communal politics too in the constituency.

Mohanlal-Suresh Gopi duo

Mohanlal is undoubtedly the biggest superstar in Kerala, while Suresh Gopi was once much bigger and mightier than the 'Pulimurugan' star in terms of fan following, especially in the 1990s and in the first decade of the 21st century. Now, both these actors have shown their affinity towards BJP, and the party believes that the involvement of these stars will create magic in the next Lok Sabha elections.

It should be also noted that Suresh Gopi is renowned in the state as a philanthropist, and he has been active in social works years before his entry to active politics. Mohanlal is also now active in social works, and it has played a crucial role in elevating his acceptance.

However, the minds of people in Kerala are always unpredictable, and they have not made even one BJP contestant to win any of the Lok Sabha elections in the past. But, democracy has that magic to create political figures within a second, especially during the final rounds of vote counting, and BJP leaders are trying to exploit this possibility.