Thrissur: Actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi, who is contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Thrissur as a BJP candidate, said he would give gold worth Rs 10 lakh to the Our Lady of Lourdes Metropolitan Cathedral if he wins the general election. 

His comments came after he was accused of offering a gold-plated copper crown to Mother Mary's idol while seeking blessings for his daughter's wedding.

He said that people with vested interests were behind the allegations. “Some evil-minded people are forcing me to clarify about offerings. The goldsmith, who was contracted to make the crown, had returned half of the gold given him. He said he was returning excess material. At least 18-carat gold (i.e. 75 per cent purity) should be used to place a single stone on the crown. I'm still ready to give it. I don't think it will make more difference in the expense. But I don't know whether these people (those who made the allegations) will come to scratch on the crown again?” said Suresh Gopi.

He also criticised the communal politics behind the allegations.

On Monday, Suresh Gopi said that he made the offering as per his financial status and Mother Mary would accept it.

Taking a dig at CPM, he asked the people who wanted to assess the quantity of the gold in the crown to go and examine the number of people who lost money in cooperative banks like Karuvannur Co-operative Bank.