Malayalam film actor and Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi on Wednesday joined the BJP.
News agency ANI reported the news on its Twitter handle.
Malayalam actor and Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi joins BJP.
— ANI (@ANI_news) October 19, 2016
The actor joined the BJP in New Delhi in the presence of Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and party General Secretary Bhupinder Yadav.
"The BJP will be strengthened further in Kerala by the joining of Suresh Gopi," Naqvi said after the actor's formal induction into the party.
The 57-year-old actor campaigned for the BJP in the Kerala assembly polls, and he had earlier indicated his willingness to join the party if invited.
PM Narendra Modi had recently nominated the actor to the Rajya Sabha.
According to a report in Manorama, the actor was approached to fight for the BJP from a constituency in Thiruvananthapuram but he apparently turned down the request.
Suresh Gopi is a popular actor in Malayalam cinema and he has acted in over 200 films. He is most noted for playing the role of a hard-hitting police officer taking on corrupt politicians.
(With IANS inputs)