Chandrasekhar Set To Be Next Kerala BJP Chief

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.

- Vishnu Varma

KOCHI: 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.