Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu likely to be next Himachal Pradesh CM

Congress-winning candidate from Nadaun Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu arrives to attend a meeting at a hotel, in Shimla on December 10, 2022.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is likely to be the next chief minister of Himachal Pradesh and will take on Sunday, Congress sources said.

Mr. Sukhu was elected from Nadaun. He was the chairperson of the party’s campaign committee and a former president of the State unit.

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As the Congress zeroed in on the name of its next chief minister in Himachal Pradesh, another meeting of the party’s newly elected legislators was held on Saturday evening, in which the MLAs elected their leader.

A party source confirmed that the approval surrounding the name of the chief minister had been given from the party ‘high command’, and the CLP as a ‘formality’ elected its new leader during the meeting.

The Congress observers for Himachal Pradesh — including Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Rajeev Shukla, the party’s in-charge for the State — were in Shimla to conduct a meeting with the newly-elected MLAs.

“The Congress Legislator Party will hold its meeting today evening at around 5 p.m., in which the leader would be elected, and then we will go to meet the Governor to stake claim to form the next government,” Mr. Hooda, had told The Hindu.

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The suspense had continued over who will become the next chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, amid the lack of a consensus candidate for the top post, after the party won 40 seats in the State’s 68-member Legislative Assembly.

On Friday, the factionalism within the State unit of the party came to the forefront as a high drama was witnessed ahead of a meeting of party legislators in Shimla to choose the chief minister. The meeting saw multiple delays. Also, chaotic scenes were witnessed at the Congress office in Shimla, after supporters of the party’s State president Pratibha Singh shouted slogans in her support, demanding that she be named as the chief minister.