Overlooked, Pratibha Singh gets Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu invite & Rahul Gandhi hug

SHIMLA: Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, a four-time Congress MLA, took oath as the 15th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh at a ceremony held at the historic Ridge Maidan here on Sunday, while Mukesh Agnihotri was sworn in as the first deputy chief minister of the hill state. Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath of office and secrecy to Sukhu and Mukesh Agnihotri, who was sworn in as the first deputy chief minister of the hill state, around 2pm.Both Sukhu (58) and Agnihotri (60) took the oath in Hindi. However, no other leader was administered the oath of office in a ceremony attended by senior party leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Sukhu’s family including his mother, wife and daughters were present at the swearing-in ceremony. Before taking the oath, Sukhu (58) took the blessings of his mother by touching her feet. He is the first chief minister of Congress from the lower Himachal, as all his party predecessors were from Shimla and Sirmaur districts of upper Himachal.
Speaking to media persons later, Sukhu said work to be done for Himachal will be discussed after the formation of the cabinet. He said all promises made in the run-up to elections will be fulfilled and his government will live up to the expectations of the people. “We have given 10 guarantees and we will implement them. We will give transparent and honest government. We will implement OPS in the first cabinet meeting," he told ANI.

Agnihotri assured complete coordination in the government, saying: “Our pair is number one. When Sukhvinder Sukhu was the Himachal Congress president, I was a minister then. The pair chosen by the people of the state is super hit... The guarantee of OPS (Old Pension Scheme) will definitely be implemented at the earliest. Earlier, people used to say that Congress will not come to power in any state. The chariot of BJP has been stopped in Devbhoomi.”
PM Narendra Modi congratulated Sukhu on his swearing-in and tweeted: “Congratulations to Shri Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu Ji on taking oath as Himachal Pradesh CM. I assure all possible cooperation from the Centre to further the development of Himachal Pradesh.”

Rahul took a brief break from his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ and arrived here from Rajasthan. His chopper landed at Annadale ground, where Priyanka joined him and they drove to the Ridge. Rahul later posted congratulatory messages to Sukhu and Agnihotri on his Facebook page. He also congratulated the party workers and people of state “for a new beginning” and promised that “Congress is committed to fulfil all the promises”. When Rahul met state Congress president Pratibha Singh, who was not happy with the party high command’s decision to select Sukhu for the chief ministerial post, on the dais, he gave her a hug, bringing a broad smile on her face. On Saturday, Pratibha’s angry supporters had created a ruckus and raised slogans against the party high command, pressurising the party leadership to make her the chief minister.

However, the party high command preferred to go with Sukhu, who had the support of a maximum number of elected MLAs. Sukhu met state Pratibha at her residence Holly Lodge before his oath-taking, to invite her for the ceremony. After Prem Kumar Dhumal of BJP, he is the second leader from Hamirpur district to become the chief minister of Himachal. With Sukhu now heading the Congress government, the 2024 parliamentary contest in Hamirpur seat, at present represented by Union minister Anurag Thakur, will be interesting. Hamirpur district alone comprises five assembly seats and BJP had failed to win even a single. In Bilaspur, Una and Hamirpur districts falling in Hamirpur parliamentary constituency, BJP could win only four seats out of 14.

Similarly, the Dehra assembly seat of Kangra district and Dharampur assembly seat of Mandi district, also falling under Hamirpur parliamentary seat, BJP could not win despite it being the home constituency of BJP national president J P Nadda. Bumpy ride ahead The Congress has its task cut out in the hill state as it faces the challenge of delivering on ambitious poll promises. The Sukhu-led government would face an uphill task of generating finances as it would inherit a debt burden of Rs 70,000 crore. In its election manifesto ‘Congress Pratigya Patra 2022’, the party promised to provide one lakh jobs and OPS in the very first cabinet meeting. It also promised to set up the Youth Commission, 300 units of free power, Rs 10 crore ‘StartUp fund’ in every assembly constituency (total 680 crore) and Rs 1,500 per month to women in the 18-60 age bracket. It has also promised to buy 10 litres of milk from each cattle farmer and cow dung at the rate of Rs 2 per kg.