Delhi: Kerala, which for the first time elected a BJP candidate to the Lok Sabha, now has two ministers in the new Cabinet as Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister for the third consecutive term on Sunday.
Suresh Gopi, who created history by winning the Thrissur seat will, was inducted into the ministry. Along with him, George Kurian, former vice-president of the Minority Commission also took oath as a Minister of State in the third Modi government.
Sources had earlier indicated that Gopi would be included in the Cabinet following his historic win in Thrissur. It was almost confirmed after Modi called him personally and asked to reach New Delhi at the earliest. On his way to the nation's capital, Gopi told the media that he would follow whatever directives Modi and Amit Shah gave him. “The BJP leadership makes all decisions in Delhi. I will be able to provide more details only once I reach there,” he added.
Gopi, who achieved a decisive victory in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency by defeating LDF’s VS Sunil Kumar and UDF candidate K Muraleedharan, is rumoured to receive a ministerial position in Modi's third term. In the election, Gopi garnered a total of 4,12,338 votes, while Sunil Kumar received 3,37,652 votes. K Muraleedharan finished third with 3,28,124 votes.
Kurian, the BJP candidate in Puthupally in the 2016 assembly elections, has served as a member of the BJP national executive committee and was the national vice-president of Yuva Morcha.
Kurian currently is the BJP state general secretary. He has served as the Kottayam district president, state secretary, and general secretary of the party.
A law graduate, Kurian also has a degree in Hindi. He entered politics through Student Morcha. A member of the Minority Morcha he became a member of the Minority Affairs Policy Formulation Committee in 2013. In 2017, he became the first from Kerala to be appointed the vice-chairman of the National Minorities Commission.
He has contested as a BJP candidate in Kottayam and Idukki parliamentary constituencies.In the new NDA government, the BJP is likely to hold onto the portfolios of home, finance, defence and external affairs. The allies are also less likely to give the education and culture departments, which are ideologically important to the saffron party.