Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Credit: PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: Technocrat-turned politician Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday took over as the BJP Kerala state president by making a call for bringing the BJP to power in Kerala.
"My mission is to bring in change here by ending the bipolar politics of the CPI(M) and the Congress and bring in development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Viksit Kerala that involved the overall development of all sections and all religions need to be achieved. The only way to achieve it is to come to power in Kerala. I will return only after achieving it," Chandrasekhar said while addressing the party leaders and workers after taking over.
Chandrasekhar also said though the decision of the party leadership to field him at the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls came as a surprise move, with the active support of party workers he got around 3.5 lakh votes with 35 days campaign.
All the leaders, including union minister Pralhad Joshi and Kerala in-charge Prakash Javadekar, also attacked the Congress - CPI(M) bipolar politics in Kerala and highlighted the elite profile of Chandrasekhar.
"BJP will do miracles in Kerala under the leadership of Chandrasekhar. His challenge is to convince the people to elect ministers and not opposition MPs," said Javadekar who termed Chandrasekhar as a man with 'original intelligence'.
K Surendran, who stepped down from the state president post, said that Chandrasekhar was elected unanimously by the party much earlier and the media reports that some other state leaders were also being considered were baseless. He added that the BJP emerged much stronger in Kerala during his term and could even open an account to the Lok Sabha from the state.
Chandrasekhar is likely to begin his work as state president by traveling across Kerala especially since he entered Kerala politics only for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha polls last year. The first biggest challenge for him will be the local body election that is due to happen this year itself, which will be followed by the Assembly election in the initial months of next year.
Earlier during the day Joshi announced that Chandrasekhar was unanimously elected as the state president. Thirty members from Kerala elected to the national council were also announced. All prominent leaders who joined the BJP from other parties are among them. Congress leader and former defence minister A K Antony's son Anil Antony, former chief minister K Karunakaran's daughter Padmaja Venugopal and P C George, who was a former leader of regional party Kerala Congress, are among them.