Kannur: He created history in 2024 by becoming the first BJP MP from Kerala and was promptly rewarded with a ministerial berth by the Narendra Modi government. Now, actor-cum-politician Suresh Gopi says that he does not want to remain a minister any longer.
The reason?
He is not earning enough and wants to return to his acting career.
Addressing an event in Kannur, the Thrissur MP and Union minister of state for petroleum and natural gas and the minister of tourism said that his income has significantly decreased since taking up the ministerial role. “I really want to continue acting. I need to earn more; my income has now stopped completely,” he said.
The 66-year-old Gopi said that he is the ‘youngest’ member in his party, not by age, but by experience, and suggested that Rajya Sabha MP C Sadanandan Master be appointed as Union minister in his place.
BJP veteran Master, from Kannur, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year by President Droupadi Murmu.
“I have never prayed for becoming a minister. A day before the elections, I told reporters that I do not want to become a minister, I want to continue with my cinema,” Gopi said.
“I took membership of the party in October 2008 … I was the first MP chosen by people and the party felt they needed to make me the minister,” he added.
A well-known face in Malayalam cinema, Gopi has also acted in Tamil, Telegu, Kannada and Hindi films. He has acted in over 250 films and was awarded the national award for best actor in 1998.
Gopi, in his address, also spoke on how people are in the habit of twisting and misinterpreting his words. He referred to an incident when he had used the term “praja” to refer to the people of his constituency, Thrissur and it came under criticism.
The minister pointed to how sanitation workers who were earlier referred to as manual scavengers are now called sanitation engineers and said that the use of ‘praja’ and ‘prajatantra’ by him was twisted by his opponents.
What is wrong with using the word praja?” Gopi said.