How Sukhvinder Sukhu Won Chief Minister Race In Himachal Congress
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who has been faithful to the Congress for for 40 years, has been picked as the chief minister of Himachal, however opponents will hold significant roles for balance. More over half of the 40 Congress MLAs in the House of 68 support Sukhvinder Sukhu.
Even in his home district of Hamirpur—also the district of veteran Prem Kumar Dhumal and BJP Union Minister Anurag Thakur—the Congress won four of the five seats, with the fifth going to another Congress official who had turned against the party.His adversaries Pratibha Singh and Mukesh Agnihotri, the former journalist-turned-protege of the late “Raja” Virbhadra Singh, and his wife, respectively, entered politics in the wake of him.
They were put up against Mr. Sukhu, a self-constructed representation of a former student leader who had previously sold milk and whose father had been a bus driver. Mukesh Agnihotri, who is slated to become deputy chief minister, Pratibha, who is now in charge of the state unit, and Vikramaditya, who may also be given a senior post, give the rivals something to balance things out.
The Hamirpur district of Sukhvinder Sukhu is entirely distinct from the upper hills and the capital city of Shimla, where the Virbhadra Singh clan draws strength from its former regal status. But Mr. Sukhu is no stranger to Shimla; he participated in student politics there, won municipal elections there, transitioned to state politics there, then returned to his hometown of Hamirpur.
On a national level, the Congress seems to struggle with the perception that it is always doing the same thing. In other states, it has been difficult to bring about a generational transformation. Thus, the tiny state of Himachal, which is just the third it currently governs, may be utilised to send a powerful message: that the Congress is not afraid of disruptive change and that family is not everything. This argument can lead to Mallikarjun Kharge, a non-Gandhi, taking over as party leader while the Gandhis continue to serve as the “high command.”
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