Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu sworn in as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Mukesh Agnihotri as deputy CM

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu a son of a bus driver and fourtime Congress MLA was on Sunday sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh at a ceremony here attended by senior party leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi VadraGovernor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sukhu 58 as also to Mukesh Agnihotri 60 the leader of opposition in the outgoing assembly who will be the states first deputy chief ministerThe elevation of grassroots leader Sukhu the MLA from Nadaun marks a generational shift in the state Congress which has been under the shadow of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh who guided the party in the state for five decades Party leaders paid floral tributes to a portrait of the sixtime chief minister before the oathtaking ceremonyPrime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sukhu on his swearingin and assured all possible cooperation from the Centre to further the development of Himachal PradeshThis will only be a third Congress government in states across the country currently after Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and both their chief ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot joined party president Mallikarjun Kharge at the oathtaking ceremony at the historic Ridge ground in ShimlaFormer Union minister Anand Sharma former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Himachal Congress affairs incharge Rajeev Shukla state Congress Chief Pratibha Singh and senior leader Sachin Pilot were also presentHooda said the formation of a Congress government has infused new energy in the party When winds of change blow from the hills they go down to the plains he saidAlso Read Congress wrests Himachal Pradesh from BJP wins 40 of 68 seats BJP gets 25People in traditional attire gathered at the Ridge in large numbers to witness the ceremony dancing to the tune of folk music and raising Sukhu bhai zindabad slogan Some enthusiastic supporters lifted their probable ministers on shoulders to reach the venueHowever no other leader was administered the oath of office in the state which can have a maximum 12 ministers Sukhus family including his mother wife and daughters were present at the swearingin ceremonySukhus choice as the chief minister is also being seen as the Congress party shifting its power Centre from the Upper Himachal to Lower HimachalSukhu considered a rival of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh hails from Nadaun in Hamirpur district and is the first Congress leader from Lower Himachal comprising areas merged in Himachal in 1966 such as Nalagarh Una Hamirpur Kangra and lower hills of Kullu to occupy the top state postAll former Congress chief ministers including Y S Parmar Virbhadra Singh and Ram Lal Thakur were from the Upper Himachal Sukhu will be the second chief minister from Hamirpur district after the BJPs Prem Kumar DhumalA son of a driver in the Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation Sukhu started his political career as a class representative at Government College Sanjauli during his student lifeHe rose through the ranks serving as NSUI state chief Youth Congress president Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president to become the chief minister of the stateBut his nomination to the top post was not smoothState Congress president Pratibha Singhs supporters had lodged their protest against his appointment and asserted their leader who is an MP from Mandi should be the chief ministerSingh later said they have accepted the decision of the party high commandIn an attempt to put up a united face her family was given due acknowledgment by the top Congress leadership during the swearingin ceremonyPratibha Singh who was the last Congress leader to reach the venue was accorded a warm welcome and was hugged by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi She was seated beside Priyanka Gandhi on the diasRahul Gandhi posed for a photograph with Pratibha Singh and her MLA son Vikramaditya SinghEarlier Sukhu personally went to the Holly Lodge the residence of Pratibha Singh to invite her to the venue and said the first invitation was given to her as she is the leader of the Congress organisation in the stateDeputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri a journalistturnedpolitician is the Brahmin face of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh and with his elevation the party hopes to sustain the communitys supportAgnihotri was one of the frontrunners for the post of chief minister But the party picked Nadaun MLA Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for the top post and him as his deputyThe fivetime MLA from Haroli in Una district Agnihotri belongs to a Congress family and his father Onkar Sharma had unsuccessfully contested the assembly election in 1988 from Santokgarh now Haroli after his retirement from the post of district public relations officer DPROAgnihotri who holds a PG Diploma in Public Relations and Advertisement started his career in journalism as a correspondent in the Hindi daily Veer Pratap and rose to become the bureau head in the Jansatta before joining politicsHe won assembly elections from Haroli in 2003 2007 2012 2017 and 2022 Considered close to former chief minister Virbhadra Singh he had served as the states industry ministerThe Congress wrested power from the BJP in the hill state winning 40 of the 68 assembly seats The polling was held on November 12 and the results were declared ThursdayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever