Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu sworn in as Himachal’s 15th CM

• Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, a four-time Congress MLA, was sworn in as the 15th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh at a ceremony in Shimla on December 11.

• Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sukhu (58), as also to Mukesh Agnihotri (60), who will be the state's first deputy chief minister.

• The 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. 

• The 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 on December 8. 

The rise of Sukhu

• Sukhu, 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 post.

• All 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 BJP’s Prem Kumar Dhumal.

• A 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 life.

• He rose through the ranks — serving as NSUI state chief, Youth Congress president, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president — to become the chief minister of the state.

• Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri is a five-time MLA from Haroli in Una district.

• Agnihotri, 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 politics.

• He won Assembly elections from Haroli in 2003, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022. He had served as the state’s industry minister.

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