V Muraleedharan was formally elected BJP's Kerala unit President on Wednesday. He succeeds PK Krishnadas.
The election of Muraleedharan, lone contender for the top party post in Kerala, was announced by BJP Minority Morcha President Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, who is the Returning Officer for organisational polls in Kerala, at a State Council meeting in Kozhikode, party sources said.
The election of Muraleedharan, who was the Vice-President, became certain after senior BJP leader PP Mukundan, a strong challenger for the top post, decided against contesting as the deadline for submitting applications ended yesterday.
Muraleedharan, who had a successful stint as All India General Secretary of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarti Parishad (ABVP), the BJP's student wing during 1994-96, is reported to have strong backing of the RSS.
He was Vice-President of the Nehru Yuvak Kendra in 1999 and its Director General in 2002.
Names of party's 21 National council members from the State were also announced at the meeting.
They include O Rajagopal, PK Krishnadas, KV Sreedharan, CK Padmanabhan, P Sreedharan Pillai, Madikkai Kammaran, PP Karunakaran, PC Mohanan, KK Radhakrishnan, CV Vasudevan and Radhamma Thankachi.