The BJP has decided to appoint former Union IT MInister and technocrat-turned-politician Rajeev Chandrasekhar as the next president of its Kerala unit. The BJP's core committee made the decision at a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday that was attended by the party's Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar and co-in-charge Aparjita Sarangi, a Lok Sabha MP. The decision was unanimous,” said a source. Chandrasekhar’s name is expected to be announced officially at a party conclave that will be held at the Uday Palace Convention Centre in Kowdiar, Thiruvananthapuram, on Monday. Union Minister and senior BJP leader Pralhad Joshi, who is in charge of the party’s organisational elections in Kerala, is expected to make the announcement at the meeting. “I am pleasantly surprised and deeply honoured that all my colleagues in the Kerala BJP considered me worthy of being the party president,” Chandrasekhar, 60, told The Indian Express after the core committee meeting. Chandrasekhar impressed party leaders with his performance in last year's Lok Sabha elections that he lost narrowly to Congress’s Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram by a narrow margin of 16,000 votes. Chandrasekhar put up a fight despite entering the contest late and having only two months to campaign. The party's calculations The BJP chose Chandrasekhar keeping in mind its short-term objective of making maximum gains in the coming local body elections and the long-term goals of improving its position in the state in next year’s Assembly elections and emerging as an alternative force in Kerala’s bipolar electoral landscape by consolidating Hindu and Christian votes and reaching out to the aspirational, educated youth. Chandrasekhar, who comes from the Nair community, is expected to consolidate the upper-caste Hindu votes and by having warm ties with prominent Ezhava community leader Vellappally Natesan and his family, he is expected to strengthen the BJP’s alliance with the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BDJS). Amid a widening rift between the Christian and Muslim communities in the state — both are socially, economically and politically influential — the BJP seemingly wanted a leader who could attract support from Christians. A section of the Christian community, which constitutes 19% of the state’s population and is viewed as traditional Congress voters, is upset with both the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF). They accuse the two main political formations in the state of apathy towards their concerns and the increasing influence of Muslims in their political stands. The big challenges The immediate challenge for Chandrasekhar will be the local body elections, due in October. He is expected to focus on the BJP’s campaign in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, with a victory there opening up the possibility of influencing the Nemam and Kazhakootam Assembly constituencies where the party is seen to have a significant support base. Chandrasekhar is also likely to face a tough challenge in uniting the various factions of Kerala BJP, where several leaders consider him to be “an outsider”, sources said. “He will have to work hard to take the leaders and the cadre into confidence and keep the flock together,” said a BJP functionary. “The BJP is planning to have (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi as its main face in Kerala. So, the state and the national leadership should be synchronised. If Modi’s personality and (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah’s strategy lifts the politics in Kerala to the national level, we need a leader who has the national perspective of the BJP’s agenda of developmental politics,” said a source. BJP leaders said Chandrasekhar, with his technocrat-entrepreneur image, would stand out in Kerala politics, which is dominated by white-clad politicians. This could help the educated youth draw the youth towards the party, they added. “Chandrasekhar is widely acceptable. He is a refreshing change from the traditional political persona and is respected and well-known as a successful technocrat-entrepreneur as well as a seasoned politician. He is a long-time Rajya Sabha MP and an electorally acceptable face as we have seen in the last Lok Sabha election when he contested from Thiruvananthapuram, where he almost won the seat,” said R Balashankar, RSS ideologue and a former BJP national office-bearer. “Kerala is always fascinated by such a fresh academically savvy and internationally known personality as we have seen earlier in the cases of V K Krisha Menon and Shashi Tharoor, etc. I think Rajeev will be able to bring much-needed inspiration and enthusiasm to the party unit in Kerala. He is acceptable to all sections of the society above local politics,” he said. Chandrasekhar’s appointment is expected to lead to a fresh attempt by the party to reach out to Christians. In the recent past, his visits to Thiruvananthapuram have always included a meeting with a leader of the Church. While Modi keeps underlining the BJP's growing connection with the community — citing the party's success in Christian-dominated Goa and northeastern states — the party is hoping to make headway in Kerala after tasting little success in previous elections. The BJP’s attempts faced a setback after the ethnic conflict in Manipur erupted, where many Christians came under attack. The party expects a suave and articulate leader such as Chandrasekhar to engage with leaders of various Church groups in Kerala and gradually win the confidence of the community. A three-time Rajya Sabha MP, Chandrasekhar was inducted into the Modi Cabinet in July 2021. He has been a technology entrepreneur engaged in the semiconductor manufacturing sector. Outside the government and Parliament, Chandrasekhar has continued to promote Indian technology on the international stage. In the last few months, he has travelled to the US, the UK, the UAE, Brazil, and Vietnam, and has also engaged virtually with the governments of Gambia, Ethiopia, and Malawi on digitalisation with a focus on the governance issues in the age of Artificial Intelligence and how technology has transformed governance in India.
