What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
Former Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri will serve as deputy CM of Himachal Pradesh. Oath taking ceremony will be held on Sunday.
After much deliberations, senior Congress leader Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has been named the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, while former Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri will serve as his deputy.
Sukhu, a former chief of state unit chief, was announced as the chief minister by the Congress leadership after a meeting of the legislative party meeting on Saturday evening, second in the last 24 hours.
Sukhu will lead a majority government of 40 MLAs in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
According to plans, Sukhu and Agnihotri will take oath of the office in capital Shimla on Sunday.
The first post-election CLP meeting on Friday passed a one-line resolution, authorising the party leadership to decide the new chief minister.
After the announcement, 58-year-old Sukhu flashed victory sign before media persons as his eyes well up in joy.
Sukhu was chosen over two other contenders, state unit chief Pratibha Singh, the wife of former CM Virbhadra Singh and Agnihotri. After the declaration of the election results, Singh said her family should not be ignored claiming that the party fought the election on the legacy of her late husband.
Pratibha’s son Vikramaditya has been elected an legislator from Shimla Rural, a seat once represented by his father. Pratibha Singh is a Lok Sabha MP from Mandi.
Two party observers – Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda, and state in-charge Rajiv Shukla are in Shimla to oversee the formation of the government.
Holding a meeting of the CLP marks a shift in the party’s style of decision-making for crucial state posts. In the past, when the CLP authorised the high command to decide on a matter, the decision was always taken in Delhi by the party’s high command, and more importantly, the Gandhi family.
In this case, however, Baghel, Hooda and Shukla held one to one meeting with the newly elected party MLAs after the CLP meeting last night before arriving at the decision.
The Congress decimated the BJP in the assembly polls held on November 12 this year. The BJP managed to win only 25 seats in the state.
For Congress, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had campaigned extensively in the state. Her slogan ‘Aa Rahi hai Congress’ besides the promise of implementing old pension scheme, 300 units of free electricity and 1,500 to women between 18 to 60 age group struck the chord with the voters.
