Kochi, March 24 -- Businessman-turned-politician and former Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is set to take charge as the Bharatiya Janata Party's Kerala chief after the party's state core committee unanimously backed his nomination for the post, according to party leaders. The formal announcement will be made on Monday.

The name of Chandrasekhar, a three-time Rajya Sabha MP who has his roots in Kerala, was proposed at the BJP state core committee meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday by the party's state in charge Prakash Javadekar and co-in-charge Aparajita Sarangi. Following a brief discussion, it was unanimously ratified by the core committee members. This is the first time a leader without a Sangh Parivar background is being el...