The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Saturday announced that Mukesh Agnihotri, the leader of the opposition in the outgoing assembly of Himachal Pradesh, will be the deputy chief minister of the hill state. The move to appoint Agnihotri–a formal royal– as deputy Chief Minister is being viewed as a balancing act by the grand old party following protests by royal loyalists on the announcement of Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s name as new Chief Minister.
Soon after the numbers to the legislative assembly started crystallising, Himachal Congress president and Virbhadra Singh’s wife ‘Rani Sahiba‘ Pratibha Singh had staked claim to the top job in the hill state reminding the party leadership of her husband’s legacy.
The royal supporters even mobbed the famous Cecil hotel where the party’s central observers were staying and raised slogans in her support. However, despite a so-called instant claim to the reins of the hill state, it seemed evident that Pratibha Singh lacked the numbers, and the party high command went with Sukhu’s name for the top, who has the weight of more than 21 MLAs behind him.
Pratibha Singh’s supporters had lodged their protest over Sukhu’s name for Chief Minister CM post, however, later Rani Sahiba said that she accepts the decision of the party’s high command.
With Agnihotri’s appointment as Sukhu’s Deputy, Congress seems to be extending an olive branch to assuage the ex-royals and contain factionalism in the state unit.
As per sources, Pratibha Singh batted for him for the top post after she was ruled out. They said that sensing that she was outnumbered, Pratibha threw in her set of demands.
“She wanted either her son or her ally Mukesh Agnihotri to be made the deputy chief minister. The high command sought to play safe and accepted this demand,” said a senior leader aware of the developments. As part of the “compromise formula”, however, Pratibha’s son Vikramaditya Singh could possibly find a place in the state cabinet with an important portfolio, sources added.
Who is Mukesh Agnihotri?
Agnihotri, who began his professional career as a journalist, is a protege of six-time Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. During his journalism days, Agnihotri got close to the late CM Virbhadra Singh, who brought him into politics.
Agnihotri is also taking forward the political legacy of his father and former Congress legislator Omkar Chand Sharma. Agnihotri has been serving as the MLA from the Haroli seat, earlier known as Santokgarh since 2003.
A resident of Goindpur Tarf Jaichand village in the Haroli tehsil of Una district, Agnihotri, 60, entered politics directly from the legislature after his father was defeated from the seat.
Congress nominated Agnihotri’s father Omkar Chand Sharma from the Santokhgarh constituency in the 1998 assembly elections but lost to BJP candidate Jaikishan Sharma. In the next state elections, in 2003, Mukesh Agnihotri was fielded by the party instead of his father and won in his first attempt.
He again won the seat in 2007. However, Santokhgarh went to the Una Assembly segment after delimitation in 2012, and Agnihotri registered his third electoral win from Haroli–a new assembly constituency. He then served as the Industries Minister in the Virbhadra Singh-led government.
In 2017, Agnihotri was elected as a legislator for the 4th consecutive time, but Congress lost the election and the BJP government was formed in the state. In 2018, Congress elected him as the Leader of the Opposition.
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