Thrissur: Actor-politician Suresh Gopi has announced himself as a candidate for the 2024 General Elections and said he was ready to contest from Thrissur again or even from the traditional Left bastion of Kannur.

Gopi's declaration was in his peculiar cinematic style, using a catchphrase in Malayalam – Thrissur njan ingu edukuva (I'm taking Thrissur) – from his campaigning during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls that turned into internet trolls after his defeat.

“In 2019, I appealed to the people of Thrissur that I need Thrissur, you must give me Thrissur, I'm taking Thrissur (Thrissur enik venam, ningal enik Thrissur tharanam, Thrissur njan ingu edukkuva). Now again, I request with my heart that if you give Thrissur, I'll take it,” Suresh Gopi said here on Sunday at a BJP event attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Gopi, who finished third in his maiden attempt on a BJP ticket– in 2019 Lok Sabha polls – from the Thrissur constituency, said he wasn't bothered about the trolls. “Those three words became a tagline. I appeal to those paid by the communist party, to troll me again.”

The national award-winning actor, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 2016, is known for his philanthropic activities.

The other day, CPM state secretary MV Govindan alleged that BJP was using charity to win votes and claimed that Suresh Gopi won't win in Thrissur even if he camped in the district throughout the year.

“Stop spreading lies, Govinda,” said Gopi. “If a Narendran (sic) (referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi) from up north has looked down south and said that he will take Kerala, he will do it.”