New Delhi, April 14: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday for the first time in 52 years elected its new international president, marking the end of Pravin Togadia's era.

The organisation elected former Himachal Pradesh governor VS Kokje as its new chief, setting aside Togadia's aide Raghav Reddy. Togadia himself did not participate in the election, which took place in Gurgaon.

Around 192 members of the organisation cast their vote through a secret ballot, out of which, Kokje bagged 131. Kokje, a native of Madhya Pradesh's Indore, is a sangh samajsevak since childhood.

He served as a High Court judge in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Acting Chief justice from 2002 to 2003. He served as the Governor of Himachal Pradesh from 2003 to 2008 and took over as the vice president of VHP in 2014.

Togadia had informally been the leader of the VHP since 2003 and was formally appointed to the post in 2011.