Munish Sood
MANDI: The new state executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), announced on Wednesday (August 20, 2025) under state president Dr Rajeev Bindal, has triggered political chatter in Himachal Pradesh for the way it reflects the party’s internal balancing act.
The composition of the 35-member team makes it clear that Bindal has leaned heavily on grassroots organisational leaders, sidelining recent entrants from Congress and independent ranks, while giving a clear edge to Shimla district.
Shimla alone accounts for nine appointments — the highest from any district — giving it a clear dominance in the new setup. Mandi follows with eight, Kangra with four, Hamirpur and Una with three each, Chamba two, while Bilaspur, Sirmaur, Solan and Kinnaur find token representation.
Strikingly, Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti have been left out altogether. The Muslim community too finds no representation, a departure from the previous state executive where leaders like Bilal Shah and Rajbali were included.
Preference to old guard, turncoats left out
A key takeaway from Bindal’s team is the deliberate omission of six former Congress MLAs and three independents who had joined the BJP last year. Figures like Sudhir Sharma, Rajinder Rana, KL Thakur and Hoshiar Singh have been left out, indicating the party’s unwillingness to reward defectors at this stage.
Instead, Bindal has promoted leaders who have risen from within the organisation, projecting the message that loyalty to the party’s ideology and structure will outweigh opportunistic switches.
Nadda’s shadow, Anurag-Jai Ram marginalised
While Bindal appears to have aimed at cutting down factionalism, the influence of national BJP president JP Nadda is evident in the final team. Several names seen as close to Nadda have found space, while most of the leaders aligned with former Union Minister Anurag Thakur and former CM Jai Ram Thakur have been kept on the margins.
This balancing act has further fuelled the impression that the state unit is being firmly aligned with Nadda’s camp ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Historic firsts, but big names dropped
Bindal’s team does mark some historic firsts: Payal Vaidya has been appointed as the first woman general secretary of BJP in Himachal, while Gurmeet Singh becomes the first Sikh leader to head the Minority Morcha.
Yet, some heavyweights have been dropped — former general secretary Trilok Kapoor, former ministers Govind Thakur and Rajeev Saizal, and senior leader Narender Atri are missing from the list.
Attempt at unity, but questions remain
The new executive includes three general secretaries, eight vice-presidents, and eight secretaries, with a conscious attempt to provide space to women and leaders from different morchas. However, the overwhelming tilt towards Shimla and the absence of defectors indicate that Bindal is trying to consolidate the party’s traditional cadre base rather than expand through cross-party recruits.
Whether this strategy helps BJP present a united front or deepens silent discontent among sidelined factions remains to be seen.
