Thiruvananthapuram, March 21 (IANS) Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi is expected to visit the Kerala capital on Sunday, launching the process to select a new President of the state unit.
There are several hopefuls, including incumbent K.Surendran who is expecting he might get an additional term as he took over as President when then state chief P.S.Sreedharan Pillai was made the Governor of Goa in 2020.
So technically, the now 60-year-old Surendran has had only five years in office, and it is natural he might look for one more term.
Among the others in the running include firebrand leader Sobha Surendran who is in the good books of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but she however does not have the best of relations with either Surendran nor his mentor, former Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, who has already had a stint as President here.
Muraleedharan’s name is also doing the rounds.
M.T. Ramesh is another veteran who has his eyes on the top post of the state unit, but he too does not enjoy much support from the state unit despite close connections with the RSS leadership.
Another name that had taken the rounds was former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who gave a fright to three-time Congress Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor at the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, before going down.
With the BJP creating history when Suresh Gopi won the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat at the 2024 Lok Sabha polls to give its first-ever parliamentary seat from its state, the national leadership was pretty pleased as they believe the powerful Christian community in Thrissur voted for the actor-cum-politician.
Another name that’s being speculated is none other than the present Union Minister of State for Fisheries George Kurian.
However, whoever makes it to the top post, one thing that is sure is that it will be a unanimous choice. Who it will be will only become evident when Joshi meets the top state party brass on Monday.
–IANS
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