Several Congress MLAs will hold a meeting with the party high command in Shimla on Friday, a day after the grand-old party managed to unseat BJP from Himachal Pradesh letting it maintain the ‘Riwaz’. The meeting will ascertain who will chair the Chief Minister seat in the state. Some probable names doing rounds include Pratibha Singh, Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Mukesh Agnihotri, Thakur Kaul Singh and Kuldeep Singh.
CM candidates of Congress had already made a visit to Delhi to meet the party high command a few days back when they saw the poll trend blowing in their direction. Among those who had gone to Delhi were Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, Campaign Committee chairman Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and state president Pratibha Singh. There were some other leaders also who had also gone to Delhi.
Take a look at Congress’s Key Contenders for CM Post in Himachal Pradesh:
PRATIBHA SINGH
One of the faces being seen as the frontrunners for the chief ministerial post is Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh, who is also the wife of former CM Virbhadra Singh.
It is pertinent to note that Pratibha Singh, an MP from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat, is not contesting the assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh. However, she could stake claim to the top post in the state as the Congress used the face of Virbhadra Singh throughout its campaign. At the time of writing this report, the BJP was leading in the Assembly segment from this area.
SUKHWINDER SINGH SUKHU
Sukhwinder Singh is the former state president and the head of the campaign committee this time. Sources believe, Sukhu is the choice of Rahul Gandhi despite his differences with Virbhadra Singh. Pratibha Singh might strongly oppose his nomination as CM. Sukhu is a three-time MLA, contesting from Nadaun seat in Hamirpur district.
MUKESH AGNIHOTRI
Congress leader and four-time MLA Mukesh Agnihotri, who is leading currently and is ahead of his nearest BJP rival Ram Kumar in Himachal Pradesh’s Haroli constituency, is also a key Congress figure for the chief ministerial post.
Agnihotri, the leader of opposition in the state assembly has defeated BJP’s Ram Kumar in the last two assembly polls in the state.
Journalist-turned-politician Agnihotri is contesting for the fifth time, after winning four times in a row.
It is a triangular contest in Haroli among the Congress, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party, which has fielded Ravinder Pal Singh Mann, a new entrant in the state elections. Naresh Kumar (BSP) and Ashwani Kumar Rana (Rashtriya Devbhui Party) are also in the fray from the seat.
Across large swathes of the constituency which borders Punjab, Agnihotri’s supporters are clamouring for their leader to be made the chief ministerial candidate of the Congress in case the party wins.
Though Haroli borders Punjab, the AAP has not been able to make a mark in the constituency. BJP’s Kumar, a former teacher, has sought votes claiming that he remained among the people of Haroli despite losing elections and helped them in their time of need and has urged voters to give him a chance once.
THAKUR KAUL SINGH
Thakur Kaul Singh (77) is the most senior leader in Himachal Congress. The 77-year-old has remained MLA for eight times from the Darrang seat in Mandi district. A former state president and a minister in the state government, Kaul stood firmly by Pratibha Singh after the death of Raja Virbhadra Singh.
KULDEEP SINGH
Another name doing rounds as one of the CM probables, is that of Kuldeep Singh Rathore, who was one of the fresh faces fielded by Congress in Himachal Pradesh. The 61-year-old leader contested the elections from Theog, a VIP seat that had been the bastion of Vidya Stokes, the scion of the state’s pioneering apple horticulture family. This time, Congress awarded Rathore the ticket from the seat in Shimla district as acknowledgement of his long-standing contribution to the party.
He held the president post in the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee without having fought a single election. On Thursday, he won from the Theog seat, defeating BJP’s Ajay Shyam by over 4,500 votes, an Election Commission report said.
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