After almost a week of speculations on whether he will accept the Union government’s nomination as the president of the Kolkata-based Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) society and chairman of its governing council for a three-year term, actor and politician Suresh Gopi has accepted the position. In a Facebook post on Thursday, he said he was taking over charge “with the assurance of the Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, that it is 100% not an office of profit and not at all a salaried job”.
Mr. Gopi also said that he had got an assurance that he would still continue to carry all the liberties of a politician. Ever since Mr.Thakur made the announcement in X (formerly Twitter) about Mr.Gopi’s appointment, the actor had remained tight-lipped, leading to angry reactions from his supporters against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)‘s State leadership, which was accused of saddling him with the post to prevent his candidature in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
To lead protest in Thrissur
The actor has been quite active on the ground in the recent past in Thrissur, where he contested unsuccessfully in the previous Lok Sabha as well as Assembly elections. He is also scheduled to lead the BJP’s protest march in the district on October 2 demanding action in the multi-crore Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam. His involvement in the protests had CPI(M) State Secretary M.V. Govindan to allege that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) action in the scam was meant to prepare the stage for Mr. Gopi’s election campaign from Thrissur.
Mr. Gopi, in the post-script to his Facebook post, has made it clear that the “Gandhi Jayanti rally favouring the financially inflicted people of the State of Kerala will not be hindered” and that he will go along with the protest march.
As the SRFTI presidentship is a largely ceremonial post with few administrative responsibilities, it is expected to give Mr.Gopi ample time to spend in Thrissur ahead of the elections.
