Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje elected new VHP chief

Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje was on Saturday elected the new President of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) brushing aside the challenge posed by the firebrand Pravin Togadia, a VHP official said.

Kokje bagged 131 votes of the VHP National Executive members, while Togadia got a meagre 60, a VHP spokesperson said in a statement.

The election was held in the government-run guest house located in the upscale and high-security Civil Lines area.

Before casting their votes, the assembled VHP members paid tribute to Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar on the occasion his birth anniversary.

VHP Joint General Secretary Surender Kumar Jain announced the results.

Meanwhile, the election gave harrowing time to the commuters, especially patients, as the Haryana Police had kept all routes leading to a nearby hospital blocked.

Besides, all routes to the offices of top officials, including Deputy Commissioner, Commissioner of Police and Divisional Commissioner of Gurugram, among others, had also been blocked.

"I need to reach the Puspanjali Hospital on the route, but I was stopped... No one is ready to even give us a reason why we have been stopped," said a person heading to the hospital.

Similar was the case with several other patients and attendants, who were stuck in the tailback.

Senior officers were, however, unavailable for comment.

--IANS

pradeep/nir