Rajeev Chandrasekhar Set To Become Kerala BJP Chief As Party Gears Up For 2026 State Elections

Technocrat-turned-politician and former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is set to be the new president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Kerala unit, Times of India reported.

Chandrasekhar, who attended the party’s core committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday (23 March), has filed his nomination for the president’s post at the BJP’s State headquarters at Mararji Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.

BJP central leadership has reportedly selected the former Union Minister to lead the party in Kerala.

The decision of the national leadership on the new state president was communicated by BJP Kerala Prabhari Prakash Javdekar in the core committee meeting, ToI reported.

A three-time Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, Rajeev Chandrasekhar served as a Union Minister of State in the second term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Central government.

Now, with two decades of political experience, he is set to take over as the Kerala BJP state president.

The BJP’s national leadership is positioning him as the face of developmental politics in the evolving political landscape.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Rajeev Chandrasekhar contested from Thiruvananthapuram against Shashi Tharoor, putting up a strong fight.

Despite securing an absolute majority in four Assembly segments under the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha constituency, he lost by a narrow margin of 16,077 votes.

With his appointment as Kerala unit chief, the BJP aims to expand its reach in the state, particularly among the aspirational youth—a demographic Chandrasekhar explicity targeted during his Lok Sabha campaign.

His rise to the top party post in Kerala also comes at a crucial time as the BJP is gearing up from the grassroots level to contest the upcoming local body elections and the 2026 Assembly polls.

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