NEW DELHI, June 15: The Union Minister Suresh Gopi, who heralded the BJP’s entry into Kerala winning for the party the first ever seat in the southern state in the Lok Sabha elections, has described the former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as the “mother of India.”
He was also highly appreciative of the former Congress Chief Minister K Karunakaran as being a “courageous administrator” and called both Mr Karunakaran and the former Marxist chef minister EK Nayanar as his “political gurus.”
Mr Gopi was speaking to reporters after visiting the memorial of Karunakaran, “Murali Mandiram” located in Punkunnam in Thrissur. Interestingly, Suresh Gopi had won Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency by dashing the hopes of Karunakaran’s son and Congress leader K Muraleedharan who finished third in a triangular contest.
Urging media persons not to add any political connotation to his visit to Karunakaran memorial, the BJP leader said he came here to pay his respects to his “guru.” He said like Nayanar and his wife Sarada Teacher, he had close relations with Karunakaran and his wife Kalyanikutty Amma also.
Mr Gopi said as he viewed Indira Gandhi as “bharathathinte mathavu” (mother of India), Karunakaran was the “father of the Congress party in the state” for him.
He explained that describing Karunakaran as the “father” of the Congress in Kerala was not a disrespect to other founders or co-founders of the grand old party in the southern state. The actor-turned-politician also hailed the administrative capabilities of the Congress veteran and dubbed him as a “courageous administrator” of his generation.
Later, Mr Gopi also visited the famous Lourde Mata Church in the city and offered prayers. He and his family’s presentation of a golden crown to the idol of St Mary during his daughter’s marriage was used by his political opponents to target him, alleging that it was not made of yellow metal but copper.
(Manas Dasgupta)
