Himachal Speaker Bindal resigns to become BJP state president

Shimla: Just ahead of his formal election as National BJP president next week, J P Nadda has sprung a surprise in his home state.

State Assembly Speaker Dr Rajiv Bindal, a close confidant of Nadda, will be the new party president in Himachal Pradesh.

Dr Bindal resigned from the post of Speaker on Thursday. He is all set to be elected unanimously to the post of state party chief. Infact, a consensus on his name has already reached in the state unit after high command's instructions.

Dr Bindal will replace Satpal Satti, who has already completed three consecutive terms as BJP state president. Five-time MLA and formerly a minister in earlier Prem Kumar Dhumal government, Dr Bindal was given a warm send-off at state Vidhan Sabha –a post he had successfully held for over two years.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, his cabinet ministers and several MLAs, both from the BJP and Congress reached state Vidhan Sabha this afternoon to give Dr Bindal a ceremonial send-off .

Chief Minister appreciated the party high command's choice for Dr Bindal as next BJP president in the state as being one of senior and experienced front line party leader.

Dr Bindal also listed out his remarkable initiatives as Speaker, which will remain as a landmark for years to come in working of the legislature, he added

This is first –time that the BJP has chosen to ignore all caste and regional considerations to handpick new state BJP Chief.

In 2017, when the BJP returned to power and chose Jai Ram Thakur as its chief ministerial choice, Dr Bindal was also a potential leader running for the top post but the party high command chose a Rajput.

Nadda too was a strong aspirant for the Chief Ministerial position in 2017.

Having risen to the highest position in the organisation, Nadda seems to have chosen to wield his influence and make choices about men and matters in the BJP-ruled state.

Insiders say Dr Bindal for quite some time had been lobbying for a ministerial berth in the government to which Jai Ram Thakur was opposed. Thus, Dr Bindal chose to exercise his second-best option to outdo the Chief Minister's prerogative in the cabinet expansion, slated to happen later sometime.

Chief Minister hinted as the election of new speaker maybe held during the upcoming budget session of the Assembly.