HP BJP announces 64-member state executive

Shimla, Jan 18 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh unit of the BJP today announced a 64-member state executive with four vice presidents and secretaries, 13 special invitees and three party spokesmans besides an organising secretary and state secretary.

Khushi Ram Balnata has been named the new state secretary with Mahinder Kumar Pandey the organising secretary and four new vice Kirpal Parmar, Ramesh Dhawala, Rajiv Bindal and Rasil Singh Mankotia as the four new vice-president, a party release here said.

Randhir Sharma continues to be the state party spokesman besides Rajinder Rana and Kishan Kapoor, while H N Kashyap, Ms Renu Chadda, Vikram Thakur and Govind Thakur being the new secretaries.

The special invitees to the state executive meeting are Dile Ram, Pyare Lal, Blabir Chaudhary, Ms Neena Sharma, Tejwant Negi, Sunil Gupta, Subhash Thakur, Anand Singh, Jagat Singh Negi, Virender Kashyap, Rakesh Bharti, Hemant Raj Vaid and Prem Chaudhary, it said.

Former Chief Minister P K Dhumal, former Union Minister Shanta Kumar, former ministers J P Nadda, Iswhar Singh Dhiman, Ravinder Singh Ravi, Mahinder Singh Thakur, Rajan Sushant, Narender Bragta and MP Maheshwar Singh, outgoing state president Suresh Bhardwaj are some of the other prominent state executive members.

The new state executive has taken over the reins of the party at a very crucial stage with Shimla Municipal Corporation elections due in a few months from now, followed by elections for the Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat, which was vacated after the Supreme Court upheld the expulsion of Suresh Chandel from the Parliament by Lok Sabha Speaker.

However, the new executive would face the toughest of all, the state assembly elections, which are due in February 2008.

UNI