Accepting responsibility party entrusted me: P S Sreedharan Pillai

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP Kerala unit president P S Sreedharan Pillai, who has been appointed as Governor of Mizoram, on Friday said the party has entrusted him with a responsibility and he accepted it.

Pillai said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken to him about the posting a few days ago.

"Party has given me a responsibility and I will take it. My tenure as BJP chief was was about to get over. The Prime Minister had a few days ago spoken to me about the posting," Pillai told PTI.

Asked about the new BJP chief for the state, he said the party will decide that.

"Mizoram is a place which has got similar geographical conditions like Kerala. I was not getting much time for reading and writing. I think now, I may get a chance," he said.

Pillai, who was the leading the BJP in Kerala when the state witnessed violent protests over the Sabarimala issue last year, said during his term vote share and party membership increased.

"The first challenge I faced as state president was the Sabarimala issue. Later we got nearly 70 per cent increase in vote share in certain elections. Similar increase was there in the party membership too. I am happy that I was able to perform the duties assigned to me," he said.

Pillai, considered a moderate, took charge of the party after the then chief Kummanam Rajashekharan was posted as Mizoram Governor in 2018.

He is the third Keralite to be appointed as Mizoram Governor after Vakkom Purushothaman (2011-2014) and Rajashekharan who held the charge from May 29, 2018 to March 8, 2019.

Currently, Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi is holding additional charge of Mizoram after Rajashekharan resigned to contest the Lok Sabha polls from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency.

Pillai, a native of Venmony in Alappuzha district, is a practising lawyer and an author who has penned over a hundred books.