PremiumSukhwinder Singh Sukhu, a four-time MLA and chairman of the Congress' state election campaign committee, was appointed as the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, while Mukesh Agnihotri will be his deputy.
Both, the chief minister and his deputy will take an oath today on 11 December at 11 am, however, Raj Bhavan sources told ANI that the oath-taking ceremony will take place at 1.30 pm.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Ji, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Ashok Gehlot and many other leaders will attend the oath ceremony tomorrow," the CM designate had said. Cabinet expansion will be undertaken later, AICC in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla said.
The Congress wrested power from the BJP in the hill state winning 40 of the 68 assembly seats. The polling was held on 12 November and the results were declared 8 December.
After being chosen as the CM, Sukhu thanked the Congress and Gandhi family for giving him this opportunity. He added that despite being from an ordinary family he is going to be the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
"I am happy that I am going to be CM despite being from an ordinary family. I am thankful to the Congress party and the Gandhi family for giving me this opportunity. My mother never stopped me from being in politics. I have reached here today because of her blessings," said Sukhu.
Sukhu is a grassroots politician who has risen from the ranks and has wide organisational experience in the hill state. Sukhu will be the first Congress leader from "lower Himachal" to come to the top post.
Son of a road transport corporation driver, Sukhu had a modest beginning and used to run a milk counter at Chhota Shimla in his early days. He was the general secretary of the state unit of the Congress-affiliated National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and later became the president of the student body. He did his MA and LLB from Himachal Pradesh University and was elected twice as councillor of Shimla Municipal Corporation.
Affable and approachable, Sukhu has a wide network in the hill state due to his long years in the organisation.
He won the assembly election for the first time in 2003 from Nadaun, retained the seat in 2007 but was defeated in 2012 and won again in 2017 and 2022. Sukhu will be the second chief minister from Hamirpur district after BJP's Prem Kumar Dhumal.
Meanwhile, after the party high-command announced Sukhu as the next CM on Saturday, the followers of the party's state chief Pratibha Singh raised slogans demanding that she be made the chief minister. They said the Chief Minister should be like "Rani Sahiba", a reference to Pratibha Singh as she is married into the erstwhile royal family of Rampur Bushahr. Party sources indicated that Virbhadra Singh's son Vikramaditya Singh will be included in the Cabinet, PTI has reported. Pratibha Singh is an MP from Mandi and did not contest the Assembly election.
On being asked about Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh's discontentment, she said "No such discontentment is there".
Virbhadra Singh, who passed away last year, had been chief minister several times and was a dominant political leader of the state. Pratibha Singh has said that the legacy of her late husband and his goodwill among people was a major factor in the Congress victory in the state.
(With inputs from agencies)