E-Paper
Sukhu sworn in as 15th CM of Himachal, Mukesh Agnihotri takes oath as deputy CM
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arelkar administered the oath to the new chief minister and deputy chief minister of Himachal Pradesh
Senior Congress leader Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was sworn-in as the 15th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh while Haroli legislator Mukesh Agnihotri took oath as the deputy chief minister on Sunday.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arelkar administered the oath to the new chief minister and deputy chief minister in a simple but impressive ceremony attended by senior Congress leaders including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi.
Sukhu’s family members including his mother, wife and daughters and the deputy CM’s family was also present in the swearing-in ceremony.
Congress in-charge of Himachal Rajeev Shukla, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, his Rajasthan counterpart Ashok Gehlot, former Union minister Anand Sharma, former Rajasthan deputy CM Sachin Pilot were also present on the occasion.
Sukhu, a fourth-term legislator from Nadaun, was chosen by the party high command to lead the government in the hill-state where the Congress stormed into power by winning 40 seats in the 68-member house.
Before the swearing in ceremony began, Sukhu went to the Holly Lodge to meet Himachal Pradesh Congress chief Pratibha Singh.
Asked if he had come to placate the state Congress chief who was also in the CM race, Sukhu said being a Congress MLA he felt that it was his duty to duty to meet the party chief before taking oath. “I have come here to seek her blessing and cooperation,” he said.
“It is also a tradition. Chief minister Virbhadra Singh had come to meet me at Rajiv Bhawan despite him being the CM for the sixth term while I was made the party president after losing my election,” he said.
Asked whether Shimla Rural MLA and Pratibha’s son Vikramaditya Singh would be made a minister in the Cabinet, Sukhu said: “Definitely he would be.”
Born on March 27, 1964, Sukhu worked as a milkman and newspaper hawker to fund his college studies. He rose through the ranks in the party and served as the Himachal Pradesh Congress chief from 2016 to 2019.
He was also the longest serving president of the Himachal Youth Congress (1998-2008) and earlier led the Congress’ student wing National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) from 1995-1998.
Sukhu belongs to the dominant Rajput community and is the first Congress chief minister of Himachal Pradesh from the lower Himachal.
His deputy Mukesh Agnihotri is a Brahmin leader from Una district and has been re-elected from Haroli assembly segment for the fifth consecutive term.
Agnihotri was first elected to the state assembly in 2003 and remained chief parliamentary secretary in the Virbhadra Singh-led government.
He also served as the industry minister with additional charge of labour and employment and public relations department in the Virbhadra government from 2012-2017.
The 60-year-old was the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader in the outgoing assembly.
Meanwhile, people familiar with the matter said that the names for the Cabinet ministers will be decided by the party high command later.
