Chandrasekhar set to be Kerala BJP president

Former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar (60) is all set to be elected Kerala BJP chief during the party’s organisational election scheduled to be held in the state on Monday.

Chandrasekhar’s name was finalised at a meeting of the Kerala BJP core committee featuring current president K Surendran, senior BJP leaders Kummanam Rajasekharan, V Muraleedharan, PK Krishnadas, MT Ramesh, along with Union Ministers Suresh Gopi and George Kurian. He was chosen over Ramesh, Surendran and Muraleedharan, other top contenders for the post.

A formal election will happen tomorrow and since he is the only leader in contention, his name will be formally announced. The Kerala state unit election is part of the BJP’s ongoing organisational poll process.

Chandrasekhar had in 2024 contested his maiden Lok Sabha election against Congress’ Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram and lost. He owns the leading Malayalam news channel Asianet.

In the second term of PM Modi-led NDA government, he was Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Ministry of Jal Shakti.