Many firsts in newly elected Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister; congress breaks its own record
Kanwar Inder Singh/ royalpatiala.in
On November 12, 2022 Himachal Pradesh polling was held to elect 68 member of legislative assembly (MLAs). The result was declared on December 8,2022. Congress wrests power from the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) by winning 40 assembly constituencies.
The newly elected chief minister of hill state Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has destroyed many old records, traditions and myths as soon as he became the Chief Minister. One such myth is that Himachal Pradesh has never had a chief minister with a moustache. This is the first time that a leader with a thick moustache became the Chief Minister of the state.
Since the formation of Himachal Pradesh, former Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, Ram Lal Thakur, Virbhadra Singh, Shanta Kumar and Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal did not have a mustache as it was myth in the hill state that the state has never had a chief minister with a mustache. But new CM has changed the history.
For the first time in the history the congress party elected its chief minister candidate in just 48 hours. Normally it takes days in electing the chief minister due to hectic lobbying, pressure tactics by elected representatives, interference of senior leadership. But due to fear of poaching by now opposition party the congress high command elected its chief minister candidate without losing any time. Earlier it was planned to take away the elected MLAs to Rajasthan to avoid shifting of MLAs to the opposition party. But by electing the CM candidate in such a short time the congress saved Himachal Pradesh before becoming Goa where they failed to form govt despite having more MLAs than BJP in past.Congress chose him over a political dynasty to lead Himachal Pradesh for the next five years.
It’s also for the first time that congress CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is an “Aam Aadmi” rose from the grassroots level in politics and not from any political bigwig family. His father Rashil Singh was a driver in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation, Shimla, while his mother Sansar Dei is a homemaker. He even sold milk in his younger days.
It’s another first for chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is that being remained three times MLA in past he never became minister, chairman or member of any state board or corporation. He directly became the chief minister.
Many firsts in newly elected Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister; congress breaks its own record . A native of Hamirpur district, Sukhu started his political career in the Congress’ student wing National Students’ Union of India, being an activist at the Himachal Pradesh University. He joined the Congress party as a student at the age of 17 and went on to become the state president of the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) from 1989 to 1995. He later became the chief of party State Youth Congress. He held this post from 1998 to 2008.
He won the municipal election in Shimla twice between 1992 and 2002 and was made the secretary of the state unit of his party in 2008. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhi is a law graduate. He was the president of the party from 2013 to 2019.
In 2003, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu fought his first assembly election from Nadaun and won. He was reelected in the 2007 elections. However, he had to face a defeat in 2012. In 2017, he managed to return to the state assembly as an elected MLA. He was chief whip of the Congress Legislature party from 2007 to 2012.
December 11,2022
