Former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is poised to take over as the new state president of the BJP in Kerala, with his appointment now a mere formality.

The BJP’s central leadership has selected the technocrat-turned-politician to lead its Kerala unit, signaling a shift towards development-driven politics.

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Rajeev Chandrasekhar was nominated for the post at the BJP’s core committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

Prakash Javadekar, the party’s Kerala in-charge, announced his name, and the official confirmation is expected on Monday after the completion of due election procedures.

On Sunday afternoon, Chandrasekhar filed his nomination papers at the BJP’s state headquarters, Mararji Bhavan. With no opposition expected, party leaders believe his election will be unanimous.

The BJP’s national leadership views Chandrasekhar as a symbol of development-driven politics, aiming to expand the party’s reach beyond its core voter base.

His background in business and technology, coupled with his close ties to the Christian leadership, was a decisive factor in his selection.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had included him in meetings with church leaders, further cementing his role in BJP’s Kerala strategy.

Unlike traditional politicians, Chandrasekhar’s style is marked by detailed PowerPoint presentations rather than rhetorical counterattacks.

The BJP leadership believes his visionary approach can resonate with Kerala’s middle class, similar to how K Annamalai energized the BJP in Tamil Nadu.

Chandrasekhar has served three consecutive terms in the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 2006. He was the Union Minister of State for Skill Development, IT, and Electronics in Modi’s second cabinet and served as Vice Chairman of the Kerala NDA.

His appointment marks a break from the party’s conventional leadership, as he is the first BJP state president in Kerala without a Sangh Parivar background.

Born in Ahmedabad in 1964, Chandrasekhar comes from a Palakkad-origin Air Force family. He initially made his mark in Bengaluru’s technology sector, launching pagers and mobile services with BPL in 1994 and later founding Jupiter Capital in 2005.

He holds a BTech in Electrical Engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology and a Master’s in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. He was handpicked by Vinod Dham to work at Intel from 1988 to 1991.

Chandrasekhar contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Thiruvananthapuram against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, reducing his winning margin to just 16,077 votes from 99,989 in 2019.

The BJP leadership believes his appointment will rejuvenate the party in Kerala, which has long struggled with internal factionalism.

Unlike the two major factions—one led by former Union Minister V Muraleedharan and outgoing president K Surendran, and the other by PK Krishnadas —Chandrasekhar remains unaffiliated, making him a neutral and unifying choice.

A large section of BJP workers and sympathizers in Kerala have welcomed his appointment, hoping he will aggressively challenge the CPI(M) and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, addressing concerns that the party’s current leadership has been too soft on them.