Gandhi family, Congress show unity in Himachal swearing-in: 10 facts

1. In a grand gesture, the photo of late Virbhadra Singh, former royalty and six-time chief minister of the hill state, was garlanded on the dais just after the newly elected leaders were sworn in and all the leaders paid their respects with folded hands. , Along with the Gandhi family, party president Mallikarjun Kharge also attended the mega event organized at Ridge Maidan in Shimla on Sunday.

2. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was also seen on the dais hugging late Virbhadra Singh’s wife Pratibha Singh. Ms Singh was the other contender for the top post, and had also staked claim with a subtle but stern reminder to the party high command.

3. She had said that the elections were fought and won in the name of her husband Virbhadra Singh, who died last year, and to sideline his family would be “a disaster”. However, he did not enjoy popular support among the 40 newly elected MLAs of the old party, which is why he was dropped from the contest, sources said.

4. Gandhiji’s gesture came as an olive branch to Pratibha Singh’s disgruntled supporters, who thronged the hotel where the party’s central observers were staying and raised slogans in her support. He even stopped the car of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, one of the central observers, before an important party meeting to give a direct message to the leadership.

5. The decision to appoint Leader of Opposition in the outgoing Himachal Pradesh Assembly Mukesh Agnihotri as the state’s first deputy chief minister is also being seen as a balancing act by the Congress to pacify egos. Mr. Agnihotri is a protégé of Virbhadra Singh, and Pratibha Singh reportedly pitched in to make him chief minister when she herself was ousted.

6. This is the first electoral success of All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi leading the campaign. The party had lost the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, while it campaigned there earlier this year.

7. Shri Sukhu, an MLA from Nadaun in Hamirpur district of the hill state, headed the campaign committee of the Congress for the recently held state elections.

8. Sukhwinder Sukhu, 58, was handpicked for the top post by the Congress high command amid heavy lobbying by Pratibha Singh, Congress MP and former chief minister and wife of Congress veteran late Virbhadra Singh.

9. Mr. Sukhu, a four-time MLA, is the son of a bus driver and started his political career from the campus of Himachal Pradesh University in Shimla.

10. Although the Congress wrested power from the BJP in Himachal Pradesh by winning 40 of the 68 assembly seats, the party’s candidates had a narrow victory margin of less than 2,000 in 15 seats. Congress and BJP got 40 and 25 seats respectively, but the difference in vote share was only 0.90 per cent.

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