Rajeev Chandrasekhar
View on Wikipedia
Rajeev Chandrasekhar (born 31 May 1964) is an Indian politician, entrepreneur, and technocrat. He currently represents Nemom in the 16th Kerala Legislative Assembly since 2026. He is also the state president of BJP Kerala.[1] A prominent voice in India's digital and economic policy, he is a former Union Minister, having served as the Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
Key Information
Before his ministerial appointments, Rajeev served as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka for multiple terms between 2006 and 2024. Initially serving as an independent MP elected with broad legislative support, he officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2018. Within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), he has also held the roles of national spokesperson and vice-chairman of the coalition's Keralam unit.
Throughout his parliamentary career, Rajeev has been instrumental in shaping national policy, serving as a Member of the Joint Committee on the Data Protection Bill, 2019, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), and the Consultative Committee on MoE & IT. He has also been a member of the Indian Council for World Affairs and served on the Rajya Sabha Select Committees for both the GST and Real Estate bills.
Early life and education
[edit]Rajeev Chandrasekhar was born to a Malayali Nair family[2] in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. His father, M. K. Chandrasekhar, was an Air Commodore in the Indian Air Force and a trainer of Rajesh Pilot, and his mother is Anandavalli Amma. His family hails from Kerala.[2]
Rajeev Chandrasekhar studied at St. Paul's Convent School in Thrissur and completed his schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya in Bengaluru. He then studied electrical engineering at the Manipal Institute of Technology. He obtained his master's degree in computer science in 1988 from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.[3]
Career
[edit]Entrepreneur
[edit]In 1991, after returning to India, Rajeev Chandrasekhar joined the BPL Group. In 1994, he founded BPL Mobile, which grew into one of the major telecom companies in India, holding key licenses in markets such as Mumbai. In July 2005, he sold his 64 per cent stake in BPL Communications to the Essar Group for US$1.1 billion.
Rajeev founded Jupiter Capital in 2005, with an initial investment of US$100 million. The investment firm has investments and managed assets of over US$800 million in technology, media, hospitality, and entertainment.[4]
In April 2013, Rajeev was awarded an honorary degree by Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, in recognition of his work as an entrepreneur.
Media
[edit]In 2006, Rajeev Chandrasekhar expanded into media by acquiring a majority stake in Asianet Communications through Jupiter Capital Private Limited. In late 2008, he formed a joint venture with News Corp, establishing Asianet Star Communications.
Asianet News Network Private Limited, incorporated in May 2008 under his leadership, serves as the holding company for key outlets including Asianet News, Asianet Suvarna News, and the digital portal Newsable.
In 2016, his group invested approximately ₹60 crore in ARG Outlier Media, supporting the launch of Republic TV. Following his election to the Rajya Sabha as a BJP member in 2018, the stake was diluted in compliance with parliamentary disclosure norms in 2019.

Politics
[edit]Member of Parliament
Rajeev began his parliamentary career as an Independent member of the Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka, serving from April 2006 to April 2018. In April 2018, he was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka for a third six-year term as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[5]
Political Career and Ministerial Roles
In July 2021, Rajeev was inducted into the Second Modi ministry as a Minister of State. Leveraging his background as a technocrat, he was assigned key portfolios, serving concurrently as the Minister of State for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Prior to his ministerial tenure, he served as a national spokesperson for the BJP.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Rajeev was fielded as the BJP candidate for the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala. In a highly competitive contest, he secured a significant vote share but lost to the incumbent MP Shashi Tharoor by a narrow margin of 16,077 votes. Following the election, Rajeev continued to expand his political leadership in Keralam, subsequently taking on the role of state president of BJP Keralam.
In the April 2026 Kerala Legislative Assembly elections, Chandrasekhar contested from the Nemom constituency as the BJP-NDA candidate. He reclaimed the seat for the party by defeating the incumbent General Education Minister and CPI(M) candidate V. Sivankutty by a margin of 4,978 votes. Chandrasekhar secured 57,192 votes (a 40.75% vote share), overcoming both Sivankutty and Indian National Congress candidate K. S. Sabarinadhan. His vote share was the highest among all NDA candidates in the state during the 2026 elections.[6]

Personal life
[edit]Rajeev is married to Anju Chandrasekhar (m. 1991), the daughter of T. P. G. Nambiar, the founder of BPL Group.[7] They have a son, Ved, and a daughter Devika.[8]
Awards and accolades
[edit]- Honoured by Army's Western Command GOC-in Commendation for his work for the Armed Forces and Veterans.
- India Today magazine ranked him #41st in India's 50 Most Powerful People of 2017 list.[9]
| Year | Name | Awarding organization | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | IIT Global Service Award. | Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. | [10] |
| 2013 | Honorary Doctor of Science | Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum | |
| 2013 | Distinguished Alumnus Award | Manipal Institute of Technology | |
| 2016 | GOC-in-C Commendation | Indian Army Western Command |
References
[edit]- ^ Service, Express News (25 March 2025). "Rajeev Chandrasekhar takes over as president of BJP's Kerala unit". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
- ^ a b Damodaran, C. Niranjan (8 July 2021). "Kerala: Nair organisation thanks PM for Rajeev Chandrasekhar's ministry post in newspaper ad". The News Minute. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
- ^ "From Intel To Minister Of State, The Journey Of Rajeev Chandrasekhar". Moneycontrol. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Rajshekhar, Chandrasekhar (15 December 2025). "Branded 'outsider', Rajeev emerges power player after Thiruvanthapuram show". The New Indian Express.
- ^ Shaju, Philip (17 March 2026). "BJP's Kerala list: Rajeev Chandrasekhar fielded from key Nemom seat as party bets on heavyweights, Christian faces". The Indian Express.
- ^ Shaju, Philip (17 March 2026). "BJP's Kerala list: Rajeev Chandrasekhar fielded from key Nemom seat as party bets on heavyweights, Christian faces". The Indian Express.
- ^ "Rajeev Chandrasekhar: The tech-savvy politician ready to transform Kerala BJP". Mathrubhumi. 23 March 2025.
- ^ Shaju, Philip (1 April 2026). "Many promises in BJP's Kerala poll manifesto –- from AIIMS to pension hike to free LPG". IndianExpress.com.
- ^ "India's 50 powerful people". India Today. 14 April 2017.
- ^ "2007 Alumni Award winners". Illinois Institute of Technology. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
Further reading
[edit]- Sanghvi, Vir (2012). Men of Steel. Roli Books Private Limited. ISBN 9788174368256.
- Denyer, Simon (2012). Rogue Elephant: Harnessing the Power of India's Unruly Democracy. A&C Black. ISBN 9781408849767.
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Profile on Rajya Sabha website
- Twitter handle
Rajeev Chandrasekhar
View on GrokipediaAfter earning a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology and a master's in computer science from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chandrasekhar worked as a design engineer at Intel before returning to India in 1991.[2] He founded BPL Mobile Communications in 1994, pioneering cellular services in India, and sold a majority stake for US$1.1 billion in 2005; subsequently, he established Jupiter Capital, a private equity firm managing over US$1 billion in assets.[1] These ventures positioned him as a key figure in India's early tech and telecom sectors, though the telecom industry faced regulatory challenges that impacted many players during that era.[3]
Entering politics as an independent Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka in 2006, re-elected in 2012 and 2018, Chandrasekhar aligned with the National Democratic Alliance and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, serving as its national spokesperson from 2020.[1] Appointed Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in July 2021, he focused on boosting semiconductor manufacturing, digital infrastructure, and startup ecosystems to enhance India's global tech competitiveness.[4] His parliamentary efforts included advocating for armed forces voting rights, contributing to the Supreme Court's 2015 striking down of Section 66A of the IT Act on free speech grounds, and highlighting irregularities in 2G spectrum licenses that led to cancellations in 2012.[1] In 2024, he contested the Lok Sabha election from Thiruvananthapuram but lost narrowly; his Rajya Sabha term ended that year, after which he was appointed president of the BJP's Kerala unit in March 2025.[5] Chandrasekhar has also founded initiatives like Flags of Honour for veterans and Namma Bengaluru Foundation for urban issues, reflecting his emphasis on national security and local governance.[1] While his career has drawn scrutiny over asset declarations in election affidavits, no formal disqualifications resulted.[6]
.jpg)