Even as actor Mohanlal remains silent regarding his entry into politics and speculations that he will contest this year’s general elections with a BJP ticket, Vimal Kumar, leader of one of the biggest statewide fan clubs for the actor said that if he decides to contest in the polls, his fans will stage protests across the state.
In a television discussion on Asianet News anchored by journalist Vinu V John on February 2, Vimal Kumar can be seen saying that the, “BJP might have other intentions in trying to persuade Mohanlal to contest elections with them. They might be planning to bring an actor like him into politics and make him the target of various allegations.”
This discussion took place two days after BJP leader and the party's lone MLA in Kerala, O Rajagopal told NDTV that the Kerala BJP had approached Mohanlal to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on a BJP ticket.
“Fans like me wish to see Mohanlal in movies. We don’t want to see him sitting in the parliament,” said Vimal Kumar during the discussion.
Speaking to Asianet news, Vimal also went on to talk about how actors like Mukesh and Innocent who went on to become MLA and MP respectively failed to perform in the field of politics. “Mohanlal has a lot more films left to do in his career. Let him continue to act. These BJP leaders (referring to O Rajagopal) should first confirm whether they are contesting in the elections, rather than dragging Mohanlal into this,” said Vimal.
While stating that the Mohanlal fans associations in the state are like a huge community where there are people with various political ideologies, religions and caste, Vimal said, “if Mohanlal is made to contest in this years elections, then the fans will definitely protest against this.”
But towards the end of the discussion, when the anchor asked Vimal whether the fans will vote and support the actor, “if” he contests in the elections, Vimal replied, “Yes, we will support him and vote for him but we will also make sure that we express our displeasure against this to him. But let there not be such an incident.”
A source who tracks the film industry closely told TNM that it was most likely that Mohanlal was declining this political invitation through his fan clubs and that Vimal Kumar's statement would not have come without the star's knowledge.
BJP MLA O Rajagopal had told NDTV, “There are a few among us who feel that a man like Mohanlal should be fielded. He is from Thiruvananthapuram and he has evinced a keen interest in public affairs.”
“Although Mohanlal is sympathetic to our cause, he is not a party member. We are trying to persuade him, but I don't know if he will accept or not,” added Rajagopal.