Sreedharan Pillai appointed BJP's Kerala chief

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: Senior BJP leader PS Sreedharan Pillai was on Monday appointed the new President of the party's Kerala unit while party MP V. Muraleedharan has been appointed state in-charge of Andhra Pradesh along with Sunil Deodhar, who will be state io-incharge.

The appointments by party president Amit Shah come into immediate effect, a statement by BJP General Secretary Arun Singh said.

Pillai, who is termed by his friends and foes as the "sober face" in the BJP's Kerala unit, reacted to his appointment, saying that he was never an aspirant for the post.

He succeeds Kummanam Rajasekharan, who was recently appointed Governor of Mizoram.

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"I will say with pride that I was there when the BJP was first formed and I have contested various elections in the state as my party's candidate in Kerala. I held the same post during 2003-06 and it was during that time we won two seats to the Lok Sabha (P.C.Thomas who contested from the Muvattupuzha constituency as IFDP candidate, which was an ally of the NDA alliance and also the Lok Sabha seat in Lakshadweep)," Pillai told media persons in Thiruvananthapuram.

He pointed out that this time it is going to both a challenge and an opportunity for him.

"In Kerala, the BJP has not done well in electoral politics and hence it's a great challenge for me. I am hopeful that with my contacts across the cross section of the Kerala society, I will be able to perform," said Pillai.