Ex-Union IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar set to be Kerala BJP chief

Former Union IT Minister and technocrat-turned-politician Rajeev Chandrasekhar is all set to be appointed the next president of Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kerala unit.

Chandrasekhar officially filed his nomination for the post on March 23. K Surendran, the current president of the saffron party's Kerala unit, announced this on X.

The BJP’s core committee took the decision to pick Chandrasekhar to lead the party's Kerala unit at a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on March 23. The meeting was attended by the party’s Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar and co-in-charge Aparjita Sarangi, a Lok Sabha Member of Parliament, according to reports.

Chandrasekhar was among the probables to the post as Surendran completed his five-year term as state president. Senior leaders from the state Shobha Surendran, and MT Ramesh were the other front runners, according to reports

The appointment comes amid the reported infighting in the party's Kerala unit and upcoming local body polls and Assembly polls in the state. Kerala will see next assembly election around May next year.

Chandrasekhar's political journey

Chandrasekhar, 60 is a three-time Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka and a former minister of state for electronics and IT. He had already taken steps to establish his base in Thiruvananthapuram. He purchased a house in the city recently and was seen actively taking part in the key issues in the state, including the ongoing indefinite stir by ASHA workers.

Chandrasekhar lost the Lok Sabha Election 2024 to Congress's Shashi Tharoor by 16,077 votes from Thiruvananthapuram.

Chandrasekhar began his parliamentary journey in 2006 as an independent member of the Rajya Sabha, representing Karnataka. In 2018, he was re-elected for the third term to Rajya Sabha as a BJP member.

Chandrasekhar became a Minister of State following the cabinet reshuffle in July 2021 in the second Narendra Modi government. He has been a prominent voice in the Narendra Modi government and is also present at the BJP headquarters during the induction of new leaders into the party.