E-Paper
Mukesh Agnihotri: Journalist-turned-politician selected for Himachal deputy CM post
The selection of Mukesh Agnihotri as the deputy chief minister of Himachal Pradesh is seen an attempt by the Congress party to present a strong Brahmin face and strike a balance between the two dominating communities in the Himalayan state, the other being Rajputs.
The selection of Mukesh Agnihotri as the deputy chief minister of Himachal Pradesh is seen an attempt by the Congress party to present a strong Brahmin face and strike a balance between the two dominating communities in the Himalayan state, the other being Rajputs.
Chief minister-designate Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu belongs to the Rajput community.
Agnihotri, a journalist-turned-politician and leader of the opposition in the outgoing assembly, has won the fifth consecutive election from Haroli, earlier called Santokhgarh. Born on October 9, 1962, in Sangrur district of Punjab, he has a postgraduate diploma in public relations and advertisement.
He started his journalistic career as the Shimla correspondent of Veer Pratap, a Hindi daily newspaper. He joined Indian Express Group’s Hindi daily Jansatta in 1993, and served as its state bureau chief till 2003 before joining politics.
Agnihotri father, the late Onkar Sharma, was a retired district public relations officer. He was a Congress leader in Haroli and had unsuccessfully contested the 1998 assembly election from Santokhgarh.
In 2003, the Congress picked up Mukesh Agnihotri as its nominee. He won his maiden election by a comfortable margin and was made chief parliamentary (check) secretary in the Virbhadra Singh-led government. He was re-elected in 2007 and again in 2012, and was made industry minister in the Congress government.
Agnihotri won his fourth election in 2017, and was appointed as the leader of the opposition in the state assembly. The most vocal among the opposition MLAs, Agnihotri kept the Jai Ram Thakur-led Bharatiya Janata Party government on its toes for the past five years.
Considered an orator, Agnihotri was the frontrunner for the post of chief minister after Congress stormed into the power in the recently concluded assembly polls. After Pratibha Singh opted out of the chief ministerial race, she backed Agnihotri for the top post.
However, the party picked up Sukhu as the new chief minister, while Agnihotri has been selected as the deputy chief minister.
