New Delhi: Malayalam actor-turned-politician Suresh Gopi assumed charge as Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas as well as in the Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday morning.
Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri welcomed Gopi and presented him with a bouquet. Later, he was also welcomed with a bouquet in the Ministry of Tourism office.
Teming it a huge responsibility, Gopi, who became the first ever Lok Sabha MP of Bharatiya Janata Party from Kerala, thanked people of his Thrissur constituency for giving him the opportunity.
"It's a huge responsibility. So, I have to look at the prospects that the PM is looking forward to... After going through all the content of the next level of emerging petroleum systems in India, maybe I will be able to put in my contribution.
Let's keep our thoughts open. Thanks to the people of Kerala, Thrissur. You gave me this opportunity," Gopi told ANI after taking charge as Minister of State.
Gopi who was among the 71 members sworn into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Council of Ministers on Sunday evening was allotted the portfolios of petroleum and tourism, a day later.
On Monday Gopi took to social media platform X to say, "A few media platforms are spreading incorrect news that I'm going to resign from the council of ministers of Modi govt. This is grossly incorrect. It is a matter of pride for me to be in the council of ministers of the Modi govt, and to represent the people of Kerala."
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections Gopi defeated advocate and CPM candidate VS Sunilkumar by 74,686 votes from Thrissur.
On June 4, the day when election results emerged indicating his win, he told ANI that he was escatic. " I am in totally an ecstatic mood. What was very impossible became gloriously possible...it was not a 62-day campaign process, it was an emotional carriage for the past 7 years...I work for Kerala as a whole. My first pick will be to have AIIMS...".
Apart from Suresh Gopi, senior BJP leader George Kurian was also inducted into the Council of Ministers on Sunday as a Minister of State and allotted portfolios of minority affairs, fisheries, and animal husbandry and dairy.