Thiruvananthapuram: The central leadership of the BJP is learnt to have suggested the name of former MP and Union Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar as the president of the party's Kerala committee. With the central leadership pitching for Rajeev Chandresekhar, a contest has been ruled out and Chandrasekhar will submit his nomination at the BJP state committee office on Sunday. 

Chandrasekhar filed two sets of nomination papers for the position at the BJP headquarters in the state capital. The official declaration of the party's new president will be made after the state council meeting on Monday. The election notification was issued by the party's state returning officer Narayanan Namboodiri on Saturday. It was speculated that the party may compromise on a five-year tenure condition and will give K Surendran another term, considering the upcoming local body elections and assembly polls. Names of senior party leaders M T Ramesh and Sobha Surendran also did the rounds in the run-up to the election for the BJP Kerala president. 

BJP's decision to field Rajeev Chandrasekhar against Shashi Tharoor in Thiruvananthapuram in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections nearly worked wonders for the party. Chandrasekhar gave a real scare to Tharoor although he lost the polls by 16077 votes. He also set a record in terms of party's vote share in Thiruvananthapuram, pocketing 35.52 per cent bettering Rajagopal's 32.32 per cent. The party hopes his appeal among young voters and clamour for development could boost BJP's prospects in local body elections.