Rajeev Bindal appointed Himachal BJP president, replaces Suresh Kumar Kashyap

The BJP on Sunday appointed its seasoned leader Rajeev Bindal as its Himachal Pradesh state unit president, replacing Lok Sabha MP Suresh Kumar Kashyap.

Bindal, who hails from Solan, has been a minister and assembly speaker and is seen as a solid and dynamic organisational leader.

He headed the BJP state unit earlier as well. An MLA for several terms, Bindal lost the assembly poll this time with the party failing to open its account in Solan district.

The BJP suffered defeat in the assembly polls in the state in November last year as the Congress came back to power. The party is now gearing up for the Shimla Municipal Corporation polls slated for May 2.

In other appointments, the BJP has made Siddharthan and Pawan Rana as its general secretary (organisation) in Himachal Pradesh and Delhi units respectively.

Both leaders will be swapping their places.

Talking to reporters in Shimla, Kashyap said he had requested the party leadership to relieve him of the charge of Himachal Pradesh state unit president.

"My tenure is over and I want to devote more time to my constituency as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are nearing and I have requested the party high command to entrust the responsibility to some other leader," he said.

According to party sources, Kashyap submitted his resignation on April 20, citing "personal reasons".

He was appointed as the chief of the BJP's Himachal Pradesh unit on July 22, 2020, following the resignation of Rajeev Bindal.