Rajeev Chandrasekhar files nomination for Kerala BJP chief, likely to be elected unopposed

As the only contender, he is likely to be elected unopposed to head the state unit, India Today reported.

However, the official confirmation will come on Monday at around 11 am during the party’s press conference.

The 60-year-old former Minister of State for Electronics and IT filed his nomination following a BJP core committee meeting earlier in the day.

Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, who oversees the party’s organisational elections in Kerala, will formally announce the decision.

The tenure of the current Kerala BJP chief, K Surendran, has already ended.

Surendran faced criticism after the party’s defeat in the Palakkad assembly by-election in November last year.

Following the loss, he acknowledged the BJP's failure to retain its core vote base and took full responsibility for the setback as state president.

Chandrasekhar, an alumnus of the Illinois Institute of Technology, also served as Minister of State for Jal Shakti between 2023 and 2024.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he contested from Thiruvananthapuram but lost to Congress leader Shashi Tharoor by 16,077 votes after a close contest.