Rajeev Chandrasekhar fielded from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha Seat in 2024 polls

Three-time Rajya Sabha member and Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar have been nominated by the BJP on March 2 to contest from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar serves as the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, as well as Electronics and Information Technology.

His current Rajya Sabha term ends on April 2.

A brief profile of Rajeev Chandrasekhar:

• Having worked with global tech giant Intel, he returned to India in 1991 and founded BPL Mobile in 1994, contributing significantly to the Indian telecom sector's development.


• Chandrasekhar founded Jupiter Capital in 2006 as a private equity investor and served as its chairman until 2014.


• His parliamentary journey began in 2006 when he was elected to the Rajya Sabha, representing Karnataka.


• A former chip designer, he is a prominent voice in the Modi government on digitization, emerging technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and the internet.


• Chandrasekhar has been an advocate for a free and open internet, as well as net neutrality.


• He has been associated with the Vivekananda International Foundation and served as a national spokesperson of the BJP.


• Chandrasekhar criticized Google for AI tool Gemini's objectionable response, emphasizing the importance of not experimenting with "unreliable" models and algorithms on Indians.


• As a Union minister since July 2021, he played a role in the formulation of the New Telecom Policy (NTP '99), contributing to the growth of the cellular sector.


• In his parliamentary career, Chandrasekhar has been a member of key committees, including finance, Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Joint Committee on Data Protection Bill, 2019, and the consultative committee on education and IT.


• He has also been a member of the Indian Council for World Affairs.

The BJP on March 2 released the first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The first list of candidates includes 34 central ministers and MoS and Lok Sabha Speaker. The list comprises 28 women and 47 young leaders spreading across 16 states and Union Territories.