Businessman-turned-politician and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is set to take charge as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Kerala chief after the party’s state core committee unanimously backed his nomination for the post, according to party leaders. The formal announcement will be made on Monday.
The name of Chandrasekhar, a three-time Rajya Sabha MP who has his roots in Kerala, was proposed at the BJP state core committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday by the party’s state in charge Prakash Javadekar and co-in-charge Aparajita Sarangi. Following a brief discussion, it was unanimously ratified by the core committee members. This is the first time a leader without a Sangh Parivar background is being elevated to the top post in Kerala.
“Rajeev Chandrasekhar has filed his nomination papers for the election to the post of the state president. The party’s core committee members and senior leaders have backed his nomination. No other leader is expected to file his/her nomination papers. Therefore, his election would be unanimous. The formal announcement will be made on Monday at the party’s state council meeting by observer and Union minister Pralhad Joshi,” core committee member and former Union minister V Muraleedharan told reporters.
On Sunday, Chandrasekhar filed two sets of nomination papers for the position at the BJP headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram.
Sixty-year-old Chandrasekhar will replace outgoing state president K Surendran who has been at the helm since 2020. The former Union minister is seen as a surprise pick by the party’s central leadership overriding local favourites like long-time general secretary MT Ramesh and state vice-president Sobha Surendran. Both leaders were part of the core committee meeting on Sunday and backed Chandrasekhar for the top role without showing hints of factionalism.
“You (media) may say that Chandrasekhar does not have the experience of rising up the party’s ranks from the booth level. But the organisation is always run as part of a collective effort with former state presidents and leaders also pitching in. Chandrasekhar is not a new person within the BJP. He has been a Union minister and proved his mettle. In the last Lok Sabha elections in Thiruvananthapuram constituency, he gained a lot of visibility among all sections of people and suffered a defeat by a small margin,” Surendran said.
Actor and BJP’s lone Lok Sabha MP from Kerala Suresh Gopi also signalled his support for Chandrasekhar.
“He is going to be a catalyst. He was present in the last Union council of ministers and has good contacts in Delhi. It’s a good decision and we are very confident (about the party’s chances in future),” said Gopi.
Chandrasekhar, born to Malayali parents in Gujarat and whose ancestral roots lie in Desamangalam in Thrissur district of Kerala, will face two major electoral assignments in the southern state in a year — the local body elections scheduled in October this year and the all-important Assembly elections next year in April-May.
Belonging to the influential forward Nair community, which comprises around 14% of the state’s population, Chandrasekhar will be tasked to create inroads within the Hindu caste group which has historically aligned with the Congress party. Along with the backward Ezhava community (23%) and the influential Christian community (19%), the Nair vote will be integral to the BJP’s efforts to widen its political footprint in a state where it currently does not have a single MLA. It’s best performance was in 2016 assembly elections when O Rajagopal made the saffron party’s debut in the assembly from Nemom.
“Despite the RSS having a strong network on the ground in the state, we have not been able to convert that support into votes. In the last election, Suresh Gopi won (from Thrissur) and the BJP secured 16.68% votes… there is scope for the party to increase its vote-share and therefore, the party is looking at alliances with smaller outfits and a new set of leaders who can connect with the youth,” a senior party functionary said.
Chandrasekhar served in the Rajya Sabha for three terms from Karnataka from 2006 until 2024. In last year’s LS elections, he lost to Shashi Tharoor of the Congress in Thiruvananthapuram by 16,077 votes.
In the Narendra Modi-led cabinet between 2021 and 2024, he handled portfolios of Electronics and IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship as a minister of state.
In Rajya Sabha, he was a member of the Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 and the Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Ministry of Communications.
(With inputs from Smriti Kak in Delhi)