Kummanam Rajasekharan was administered the oath of office at 12.00 pm at the Raj BhavanKottayam: Former Kerala BJP president Kummanam Rajasekharan was on Tuesday sworn in the governor of Mizoram.
He was administered the oath of office at 12.00 pm at the Raj Bhavan. He reached Mizoram Monday night.
Kummanam has replaced Lt. General (Retd.) Nirbhay Sharma who completed his tenure on Monday.
The 65-year-old Kummanam rose through the ranks of right-wing outfits such as Hindu Aikya Vedi, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and RSS, acquiring the face of BJP's Kerala wing. He has been the state president from December 18, 2015.
Kummanam has played a major role in anti-airport agitation in Aranmula. A native of Kottayam, he came into contact with the RSS during his student days. He quit his regular job and became a fulltime RSS pracharak.
Kummanam, the Kerala BJP chief
Kummanam became the BJP Kerala state president in the most unexpected manner. The BJP state leadership was vertically split ever since the central leaders started a search for V. Muraleedharan's successor as the party’s Kerala president. Balashankar, who had been chosen by the central leadership for the post, was supported by O Rajagopal, C K Padmanabhan, P S Sreedharan Pillai and P K Krishnadas.
Kummanam’s name was suggested by V Muraleedharan, K Surendran and Umakanthan. BJP national president Amit Shah finally appointed Kummanam on December 18, 2015. The party central leadership had taken a calculated risk by choosing Kummanam a few months before the assembly elections. Kummanam was the Hindu Aikyavedi general secretary at that time.
National leaders of the party had felt that Kummanam, as president, would bring the several Hindu organisations together and provide a boost to the grassroot activists of the Sangh Parivar.
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