Outgoing Himachal BJP chief Rajeev Bindal set to retrain post for third term

Shimla, June 30 Outgoing Himachal Pradesh BJP President Rajeev Bindal, considered a confidant of party national President J.P. Nadda, on Monday filed his nomination for the top party post and is set to retain the post for a third term.

Bindal filed his nomination at the state BJP office here amidst the presence of senior party leaders, including BJP National Vice President Saudan Singh, former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, state BJP in-charge Shrikant Sharma and co-in-charge Sanjay Tandon.

Rajeev Bhardwaj, the BJP’s election in-charge, told the media that they received three sets of nominations of Bindal for the post of the state president. His nomination was approved by the Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, former Union Minister Anurag Thakur, all Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs and former state presidents, etc.

“We received only one nomination for the state president post,” he added.

As no other candidate is in the fray, former Vidhan Sabha speaker and four-time legislator Bindal is likely to be unanimously elected as the state President again.

As per the election schedule, Union Minister Jitendra Singh will declare the election result on Tuesday in Shimla.

Holding the health portfolio in the previous BJP state government from 2007-12, Bindal was told to resign as cabinet minister in July 2012 after a segment of his own party demanded his resignation to project a clean image of the government ahead of Assembly elections that year.

Among the state party leadership, Bindal, a former legislator from Nahan and Solan seats, is the most experienced and has shrewd organisational skills.

In 2020, Bindal, in his maiden stint as the party chief, replaced sitting incumbent Satpal Satti, who was appointed in February 2012. Satti’s second term ended in January 2019, but he remained in office following the Lok Sabha elections.

Bindal had to resign from the party chief’s post months later on moral grounds after a state Health Department scam.

While the opposition Congress had demanded a CBI probe, Bindal had denied the involvement of any BJP leader in the scam.

In April 2023, Bindal, who was chosen for the party’s top post despite losing the 2022 Assembly poll from Nahan in Sirmaur district, was appointed for the second time, replacing Shimla Member of Parliament Suresh Kashyap.

In the 2022 Assembly polls, the BJP had suffered a setback in Sirmaur by losing three of the five Assembly segments.

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