Suresh Gopi offers to step down, wants Sadanandan Master to replace him in Union Cabinet

Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Sunday expressed his desire to step down from his ministerial post and recommended BJP’s newly elected Rajya Sabha member C Sadanandan Master in his place in the Union Cabinet.

Addressing party workers at a function here, which was also attended by Sadanandan, Gopi said the senior leader’s nomination to the Rajya Sabha is a significant breakthrough in the politics of North Kannur district.

He said, “I am saying this honestly that I should be removed and Sadanandan Master should be made the (Union) minister. I believe this will become a new chapter in the political history of Kerala.

Gopi, who serves as the Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Tourism, said he prays that Sadanandan’s MP office here will soon be upgraded to a ministerial office.

The actor-turned-politician said he is one of the youngest BJP members in the state and had joined the party only in October 2016.

He said that the party would have made him a Union minister considering the mandate given by the people during the Lok Sabha elections.

Gopi said, “I never wanted to leave my film career and become a minister.” He said that his income has declined significantly in recent times.

Sadanandan Master, a senior saffron party leader from Kannur district, has survived political violence. He lost both his legs during an alleged attack by CPI(M) workers in 1994.