BJP candidate Suresh Gopi courts trouble over poster with late star Innocent

WITH just four days left for polling for the Lok Sabha elections to begin in Kerala, actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who is contesting for the BJP from the Thrissur constituency, ran into trouble on Monday over his poster with late actor Innocent.

The controversy erupted after a poster of Gopi and Innocent was seen in and around Irinjalakuda, the hometown of Innocent.

Innocent was the CPI(M) Lok Sabha member from Chalakudy in Thrissur District in 2014 when he trounced the then Congress veteran and sitting Lok Sabha member PC Chacko by around 13,000 votes.

However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Innocent was defeated by Congress candidate Benny Behanan by a margin of over one lakh votes.

Innocent, who was a cancer patient, passed away in March last year, but remains loved by the people.

Gopi, who is also a superstar, decided to cash in on Innocent’s popularity but ran into trouble as Innocent’s family expressed its ire over this.

They said that their permission was not taken before publishing the posters of Gopi and Innocent, and they will now discuss the issue with the CPI(M) which will be making a statement about this.

Late in the afternoon, the poster was removed.

Gopi is engaged in a keenly-contested triangular fight and is pitted against sitting Lok Sabha member (Vadakara) and Congress veteran K Muraleedharan and former State Agriculture Minister and CPI leader VS Sunil Kumar.