Shimla: With the Leader of the Opposition in the outgoing Assembly in Mukesh Agnihotri being sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister on Sunday, Himachal Pradesh received its first Deputy Chief Minister. A former journalist, Agnihotri is a five-time MLA from Haroli in Una district and has earned the reputation of a firebrand leader known for his scathing attacks on the BJP. He is also known to be a good orator.
The 60-year-old journalist turned politician, was one of the leading candidates for the Chief Minister's post, but the Congress leadership selected Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu as for the top post in the State as he has the support of most of the MLAs.
However, Agnihotri needed to be accommodated as he is one of the key Brahmin faces of the party and Congress is keen on maintaining the support of the community. He belongs to a Congress family and his father Onkar Sharmawon from the erstwhile Santokgarh (now Haroli) following his retirement from the post of district public relations officer (DPRO).
Agnihotri, who holds a PG Diploma in Public Relations and Advertisement started his career in journalism and later joined politics. Considered to be close to Congress stalwart and former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Virbhadra Singh, Agnihotri also served as the Industry Minister in Singh's cabinet.
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Having a formidable electoral record of winning won assembly elections from Haroli in 2003, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022, Agnihotri became the Leader of the Opposition after Congress lost to the BJP in the 2017 Assembly elections. Before becoming an MLA he also held the posts of the general secretary of the state Congress and the president of the media cell. The grand old party also has to sort out who will be the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the State Assembly.
Forerunners for cabinet berths:
Congress insiders said that the party leadership has to ensure proper representation in the cabinet from the politically crucial districts of Kangra, Shimla and the tribal-dominated district of Kinnaur.
As for the Kangra district, Kangra district, the names of Sudhir Sharmaand , Chandra Kumar, Bhavani Pathania are the forerunners for ministerial berths while Anirudh Singh, Rohit Thakur, Vikramaditya Singh and Kuldeep Rathore are at the forefront for induction in the cabinet. Jagat Singh Negi is also likely to be inducted in the cabinet from the tribal-dominated Kinnaur district.
