Actor Suresh Gopi asked to leave NSS headquarters

Changnacherry: Malayalam film superstar Suresh Gopi was on Saturday asked to leave a venue where a meeting of the Nair Service Society (NSS), a powerful social group, was being held here, about 130 km from the capital city.

NSS, a powerful organisation of the Hindu Nair community which has its headquarters located here, is often visited by leaders from most of the political parties.

Gopi told reporters that since it being his birthday as per the star, he was returning after visiting a temple. When he reached the NSS headquarters, he felt like paying his respects at the Mannam memorial in the NSS headquarters.

"After I paid my respects in the memorial, a few of the NSS leaders asked me to come to meet their leader (Sukumaran Nair, general secretary of the NSS). But his response on seeing me broke my heart and I came out," said Gopi.

Sukumaran Nair, later clarified that Gopi was allowed to only visit the memorial, not the venue where the crucial budget presentation of the NSS was going on.

"I said to him please do not have a show here and his act smacked arrogance. The budget session is currently on. May be he wanted to give a message that the NSS is with the BJP," said Nair.

Incidentally, even though Gopi belongs to the NSS, the NSS leadership took such a step because voting at the crucial Aruvikara by-election is being held on Saturday and Gopi for the first time in his career had campaigned for the BJP candidate O.Rajagopal.

The NSS leadership, which has time and again maintained an equidistant policy with all political fronts, felt that any special treatment given to Gopi would send a wrong message to the Hindu Nair community in Aruvikara.