Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, MLA from Nadaun Assembly Constituency of Himachal Pradesh and Chairman of Congress Election Campaign Committee, will be the Chief Minister of the State. Sukhwinder, who became MLA for the fourth time, will take oath as the chief minister on December 11.
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was born on 26 March 1964, belonging to village Sera, Tehsil Nadaun, district Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh.
Born in an ordinary family, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu’s father Rasil Singh was a driver in the Himachal Road Transport Corporation, Shimla. Before this, there were three Chief Ministers of Congress in Himachal Pradesh. Dr. Yashwant Singh Parmar, Thakur Ramlal and Virbhadra Singh.
All three were Rajput caste. This time also Congress has decided to make Sukhu who belongs to Rajput caste as the Chief Minister.
According to the 2011 census, 50.72 percent of the population of Himachal Pradesh belongs to the upper castes. Of these, 32.72% are Rajputs and 18% are Brahmins. 25.22% belong to Scheduled Castes, 5.71% to Scheduled Tribes, 13.52% to OBCs and 4.83% to other communities.
Sukhwinder Singh’s mother Sansar Devi is a housewife. Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has studied from his early studies till LLB in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh.
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is the second of his four siblings. His elder brother Rajiv is retired from the army. His two younger sisters are married.
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Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu is married to Kamlesh Thakur on 11 June 1998. He has two daughters who are studying in Delhi University.
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu started his political innings with the student wing of the Congress, the NSUI. Here he was elected Class Representative and General Secretary of the Student Central Association at Sanjauli College, Shimla.
After this, he was elected the President of the Student Central Association in Government College, Sanjauli. Here he made a tremendous hold among the young students. After that he gradually emerged as a strong youth leader.
Beginning with the state president of NSUI
This was the period when the politics of Himachal Pradesh was dominated by Congress and big leaders like Virbhadra Singh, Sukh Ram and BJP’s Shanta Kumar.
Meanwhile, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu took over the post of State President of NSUI in 1988. After this, in 1995, he got the command of State General Secretary of Youth Congress. It was a big responsibility.
Regarding Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, senior journalist Archana Phool says that he had a different leadership quality from the beginning. He always used to keep his words with great impunity.
His ground hold was always very strong among his people. This is the reason why when the observer team from Delhi asked the consent of the MLAs one by one, most of them were inclined towards Sukhwinder. For this reason Sukhwinder’s claim was the strongest.
His supporter Sunil Kashyap, who came from Nadaun assembly constituency, says that Sukhu comes from a simple family.
His specialty is that he takes care of everyone. It is because of him that the Congress performed so well in the districts of Hamirpur, Una and Kangra of Lower Himachal. He is a popular leader.
Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu had strengthened his hold in student politics to such an extent that from 1998 to 2008, he was the State President of Youth Congress for ten consecutive years. During his political career, he also became a councilor of Shimla Municipal Corporation twice.
But his goal was bigger. So in 2003 he contested his first assembly election and he reached Himachal Pradesh assembly for the first time.
After this, he was elected MLA for the fourth time in 2007, 2017 and now in 2022 from Nadaun assembly constituency. Meanwhile, in 2008, he became the General Secretary of the State Congress.
He got his first defeat in the assembly elections in the year 2012 but he was not broken by it. He took over as the President of Himachal Pradesh Congress on 8 January 2013.
During this, he kept on directly confronting his government and six-time Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on different issues.
He was the President of the State Congress for almost six years. During this he kept on strengthening the organization. But after the defeat of the Congress in the 2017-18 elections, on 10 January 2019, he stepped down from the post of President.
Just before the 2022 assembly elections, the Congress gave him a big responsibility in April 2022 by making him the chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Election Campaign Committee and a member of the ticket distribution committee.
After the Congress won the elections in Himachal Pradesh, when the discussion about the Chief Minister increased, he remained in the race from the beginning and after a long consultation of central observers, which lasted for about 48 hours, the party decided to make him the Chief Minister.
On the condition of anonymity, a Congress leader told that in the first race three names were discussed more.
Among them Pratibha Singh, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and Mukesh Agnihotri. Then, when the opinion of the MLAs was known separately, more than 21 MLAs agreed on the name of Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, while some MLAs asked to leave the decision to the high-command.
Big responsibility
It was a moment where the team of central observers gave its verdict in his favour. However, a single-line resolution was passed in Friday’s meeting, leaving the final call to the Congress high command. But considering the seriousness of the situation, this decision was taken in Shimla on Saturday itself.
On this incident of Friday and Saturday, senior journalist Pradeep Chauhan says that for the first time he saw that the Congress did not make any delay or mistake in taking its decision.
He took a quick decision, keeping every aspect in mind. This is because the situation like Punjab should not be faced in Himachal Pradesh. There was absolute clarity in his strategy and decision making.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh will be held on December 11 at the historic Ridge Ground in Shimla. Many national leaders of Congress will also participate in this.
As the Chief Minister of Himachal, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu will have huge responsibilities like fulfilling the election promises of Congress and getting Himachal out of debt.
