<p>Former Himachal Pradesh Governor Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje was on Saturday elected the international vice president of the VHP, bringing down the curtains on a long inning played by Pravin Togadia.</p>.<p>Elections were necessitated for the top post in the VHP, a prominent organisation of the Sangh Parivaar, as members of the organisation failed to reach a consensus on the new leadership.</p>.<p>Kokje (79), a former high court judge, got 131 votes and defeated incumbent international president G Raghava Reddy, who could secure only 60 votes.</p>.<p>Kokje has appointed advocate Alok Kumar and Ashok Chaugule as the working presidents, Milind Parande as secretary general and Vinayak Deshpande as secretary general (organisation), a VHP spokesman said.</p>.<p>Relations between Togadia and the RSS leadership have soured over the past few months, particularly after the pro-Sangh faction within the VHP tried to push the candidature of Kokje for the top post at a meeting in Bhubaneshwar last year.</p>.<p>The move was opposed tooth and nail by Togadia, who addressed a huge gathering and even accused "certain leaders" of trying to topple him.</p>.<p>Togadia's relations with the Sangh and the BJP have been strained for quite some time and matters came to worse when he made a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January after he went missing for a few hours in Ahmedabad and was found unconscious in one of the bylanes of the city.</p>.<p>At a press conference in January, Togadia had claimed there was a conspiracy to kill him and this was hatched jointly by the Crime Branch and the Rajasthan Police.</p>.<p>Kokje was born on September 6, 1939, in Madhya Pradesh and pursued higher studies in Indore.</p>.<p>He was appointed a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1990 and later transferred to the Rajasthan High Court where he was the acting chief justice till his retirement in 2001.</p>.<p>The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had appointed him as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh in May 2003.</p>
<p>Former Himachal Pradesh Governor Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje was on Saturday elected the international vice president of the VHP, bringing down the curtains on a long inning played by Pravin Togadia.</p>.<p>Elections were necessitated for the top post in the VHP, a prominent organisation of the Sangh Parivaar, as members of the organisation failed to reach a consensus on the new leadership.</p>.<p>Kokje (79), a former high court judge, got 131 votes and defeated incumbent international president G Raghava Reddy, who could secure only 60 votes.</p>.<p>Kokje has appointed advocate Alok Kumar and Ashok Chaugule as the working presidents, Milind Parande as secretary general and Vinayak Deshpande as secretary general (organisation), a VHP spokesman said.</p>.<p>Relations between Togadia and the RSS leadership have soured over the past few months, particularly after the pro-Sangh faction within the VHP tried to push the candidature of Kokje for the top post at a meeting in Bhubaneshwar last year.</p>.<p>The move was opposed tooth and nail by Togadia, who addressed a huge gathering and even accused "certain leaders" of trying to topple him.</p>.<p>Togadia's relations with the Sangh and the BJP have been strained for quite some time and matters came to worse when he made a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January after he went missing for a few hours in Ahmedabad and was found unconscious in one of the bylanes of the city.</p>.<p>At a press conference in January, Togadia had claimed there was a conspiracy to kill him and this was hatched jointly by the Crime Branch and the Rajasthan Police.</p>.<p>Kokje was born on September 6, 1939, in Madhya Pradesh and pursued higher studies in Indore.</p>.<p>He was appointed a judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in 1990 and later transferred to the Rajasthan High Court where he was the acting chief justice till his retirement in 2001.</p>.<p>The Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had appointed him as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh in May 2003.</p>
