Mohanlal May Contest As BJP Candidate in Lok Sabha Polls: Report

According to the report, RSS is pushing for Mohanlal to contest and is working to establish his “credentials”.

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal may contest the next Lok Sabha election on a BJP ticket from Kerala's capital Thiruvananthapuram, the Deccan Herald reported on Tuesday, 4 September, citing sources.

The RSS is pushing for the Malayalam actor to contest as a BJP nominee and is therefore working to build a "social activist profile" for him, reported the daily.

"There is a serious discussion in the Sangh about fielding Mohanlal," a senior leader told the Deccan Herald.

The superstar had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, inviting further speculations. However, there was no discussion about his entry into politics and it was an exercise to 'build the political profile of the actor', Deccan Herald added.

BJP state leaders were not aware of the meeting scheduled by the RSS, the report stated.

The 58-year-old had met PM Modi to discuss the inauguration of The Vishwashanti Foundation on 3 September and had tweeted a photo from their meeting.

He has assured all support and offered to participate in the Global Malayalee Round table that can formulate futuristic solutions for a New Kerala. Hon. PMO India has also appreciated our vision to set up a Cancer Care Centre to cater to the needs of the under-privileged. pic.twitter.com/3icdyqZlgu

— Mohanlal (@Mohanlal) September 3, 2018

PM Modi had also tweeted about the meeting.

Yesterday, I had a wonderful meeting with @Mohanlal Ji. His humility is endearing. His wide range of social service initiatives are commendable and extremely inspiring. pic.twitter.com/f3Dv3owHUV

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 4, 2018

Deccan Herald’s sources said that Mohanlal will be exposed to more such events to establish credentials. "He is known as an actor but that itself does not help in Kerala. That is why this exercise," the leader said.