Former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been elected as the new president of the Kerala state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During the BJP’s state council meeting in Kerala, which was informed on Monday by the party’s central observer, Prahlad Joshi, the announcement was made.
No other contender emerged for the post, and Chandrasekhar was unanimously picked as the successor. However, on Sunday, he submitted two sets of nomination papers at the BJP headquarters, the first of which made him a candidate. Several BJP leaders from the state, including outgoing president K Surendran and state in-charge Prakash Javadekar, were present at the announcement event. Surendran handed over the party flag on stage to Chandrasekhar as a symbolic gesture of leadership change.
K Surendran used his farewell address to pin wealth on the BJP, which had witnessed ‘huge growth’ in the last decade in Kerala. Chandrasekhar also fully believed in the leader’s ability to take the party further. However, he rebuffed criticism that Chandrasekhar — a technocrat and known for his professional standing — does not have the typical political experience. Chandrasekhar’s expertise across many sectors and Surendran’s discussion that would enable a heady harvest in the state alleged to the party that he would be a significant figure.
At 60, Rajeev Chandrasekhar has over three decades of political experience. A key department he has served as a Union Minister of State in; he has served as Union Minister of State in Electronics and IT, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship, Jal Shakti. Karnataka has been represented by him in the Rajya Sabha in three terms and as the national spokesperson for the BJP. He is now vice chairman of the NDA’s Kerala unit.
Chandrasekhar, who comes from Thrissur through his family, has contested from Thiruvananthapuram as an NDA candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and lost narrowly to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor by a margin of 16,077 votes.
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