Shimla: Putting up a brave front, health minister Rajeev Bindal who has been assigned party duty by BJP state president Satpal Satti, declared that it was timely as the general assembly elections was just a few months away.
Talking to journalists for the first time after being designated as a BJP state general secretary, the minister dismissed it as demotion and said that after completing the laid out tasks in the health ministry, he would resign from chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal’s cabinet to take up party responsibilities soon.
With the party adhering to the principal of one man one post principal, the minister plans to resign is been seen as major setback for Dhumal.
Speaking about the primacy of the party, Bindal said that election duty is the most important duty for any party man.
When asked to spell out plans of strengthening the faction ridden BJP as a general secretary of the party, the minister declined to comment saying that he would only speak about it after taking up the responsibility.
Earlier Bindal counted the achievements the health sector had recorded in four years and six months when he was heading the ministry.
Among the achievements, he counted the increased number of MBBS seats in the two state sector medical colleges, extending health insurance cover to all below poverty line families, successful running of the emergency ambulance services, drop in infant mortality rate and increase in sex ratio recorded during his term in office.
Photo: Ravinder Makhaik
As Editor, Ravinder Makhaik leads a team of media professionals at Hill Post.
Spanning a career of over two decades in mass communication, as a Documentary Filmmaker, TV journalist, Print Media journalist and with Online & Social Media, he brings with him a vast experience. He lives in Shimla.