Bindal takes over as HP BJP chief

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh BJP’s new president Rajeev Bindal on Monday assumed charge in the presence of outgoing chief Suresh Kashyap and state leader of opposition Jai Ram Thakur. A man of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) background, Bindal is good at election management, a useful skill when his party has the challenge of winning third parliamentary contest in a row after 2014 and 2019.
Addressing the media after taking charge, Bindal said Thakur had been a good chief minister and mentor, while former state party president Suresh Kashyap also had excellent three years.He thanked the senior party leadership for his appointment. In 2014 and 2019, the BJP had won all four parliamentary seats of Hamirpur, Shimla, Kangra, and Mandi, but lost Mandi in the 2021 byelection to the Congress. Even in assembly polls, BJP performed poorly in Hamirpur constituency. Bindal has the challenge of winning all four parliamentary seats and Shimla’s municipal elections. Addressing a BJP meeting at Sanjauli, last state party chief Suresh Kashyap said: “The Congress has done politics and cheated people into believing its 10 false guarantees. It had given them another 24 false guarantees in Solan municipal elections, while the BJP will stand by its manifesto.”