Thiruvananthapuram, April 21

Malayalam superstar Suresh Gopi on Thursday offered prayers at a temple here and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for nominating him to the Rajya Sabha.

\"This is not a political decision, it\'s a non-political one... our prime minister has nominated me,\" the 56-year-old Gopi, who has worked in over 250 films, told the media.

He was accompanied to the temple by former union minister and BJP leader O. Rajagopal.

\"This should have come earlier, but now that it has come, it\'s good,\" said Rajagopal, who was a Rajya Sabha member and a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.

Gopi was promised the post of chairman of the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) last year, but it failed to materialise.

The BJP also tried to field him in the upcoming assembly polls, but the actor was non-committal. He, however, agreed to campaign for the party in Kerala.

Of the 12 nominated members in the upper house of parliament, there are seven vacancies at the moment and Gopi will be one of the new entrants.

Gopi was last week summoned to Delhi and his name was finalised after a meeting with BJP president Amit Shah.

The BJP\'s national leadership feels the nomination would give the much needed boost to the party to open its account in the 140-member Kerala assembly, as all top leaders of the party in the state, including Rajagopal, are contesting the polls.

Malayalam star Suresh Gopi all set for RS nomination