Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu
	Sukhu in 2023
7th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 11 December 2022
Governor	Rajendra Arlekar ; Shiv Pratap Shukla
Deputy	Mukesh Agnihotri
Departments	Finance; General Administration; Home; Planning; Personnel; Other departments not allotted to any minister;
Preceded by	Jai Ram Thakur
Member of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 18 December 2017
Preceded by	Vijay Agnihotri
Constituency	Nadaun
	In office; 6 March 2003 – 20 December 2012
Preceded by	Babu Ram Mandial
Succeeded by	Vijay Agnihotri
Constituency	Nadaun
President, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee
	In office; 15 January 2013 – 11 January 2019
National President	Sonia Gandhi; Rahul Gandhi
Preceded by	Virbhadra Singh
Succeeded by	Kuldeep Singh Rathore
Leader of the House of Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 11 December 2022
Deputy	Mukesh Agnihotri
Preceded by	Jai Ram Thakur
Personal details
Born	27 March 1964 (age 60); Nadaun, Himachal Pradesh, India
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse	Kamlesh Thakur
Children	2
Parent(s)	Rashil Singh (father); Sansar Dei (mother)
Residence(s)	Oakover, Shimla
Alma mater	Government College, Sanjauli, Shimla; Himachal Pradesh University;
Occupation	Politician

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (born 27 March 1964) is an Indian politician currently serving as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.^[1]^[2] As a member of Indian National Congress, he is a 4-time and incumbent MLA from Nadaun assembly constituency^[3] of Himachal Pradesh.^[4]

He was the president of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee from 2013 to 2019.^[5]^[6]

Early life

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, born on March 27, 1964, in the village of Bhavran, Po Kitpal , tehsil Nadaun, Hamirpur district, is the son of Late Shri Rasil Singh. He pursued his education and earned an M.A. and L.L.B. Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is married to Smt. Kamlesh Thakur, and the couple has two daughters.

In his early life, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu demonstrated leadership qualities during his college years. He was elected as the Class Representative (CR) at Government Degree College, Sanjauli, Shimla, from 1982 to 1983. His leadership roles continued with his election as the General Secretary and later as the President of Government Degree College,, Sanjauli, Shimla, for the years 1983-1984 and 1984-1985, respectively. He was also elected as the Department Representative (DR) for the Law Department at Himachal Pradesh University in 1985-1986.

Political career

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's political journey began as a student activist when he joined the National Student Union of India (NSUI), the student arm of the Congress. He was elected as the State President of NSUI from 1989 to 1995. His commitment to political and social work continued as he became the General Secretary of the State Youth Congress from 1995 to 1998 and later its President from 1998 to 2008.

In addition to his role in student and youth politics, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu served as a Councillor in the Municipal Corporation, Shimla, for two terms from 1993-1998 and 1998-2003.

His leadership within the Congress Party progressed as he took on the role of General Secretary of Pradesh Congress Committee from 2008 to 2012. Subsequently, he became the President of Pradesh Congress Committee, leading the state unit of the party from January 8, 2013, to 11 January 2019.

Legislative career

Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu entered the State Legislative Assembly in 2003 and was re-elected in December 2007 and December 2017. During his legislative terms, he served as the Chief Whip of the Congress Legislature Party from 2007 to 2012. He was a member of various committees, including the Business Advisory Committee, Library, Research & Reference Committee, and Public Undertakings & Privileges Committees from 2018 to 2022.

In December 2022, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was elected for the fourth term to the State Legislative Assembly. On December 11, 2022, he took oath as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh

Sukhu was a prominent campaigner for the INC in the 2022 assembly elections in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee appointed him Chief Minister on 10 December 2022; he was sworn in the next day, after the INC won the assembly elections.

Ministry allocation

After becoming a Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Sukhu kept around more than 5 ministries under his direct control, including Finance, General ,Administration, Home, Planning, Personnel and All other departments not allotted to any other Minister.

In his first cabinet meeting, held on 13 January 2023, the decision was taken to restore the old pension scheme , fulfilling the poll promise of the Congress. The Cabinet decided to provide OPS to all the Government employees who are presently covered under the defined contributory pension scheme also referred to as NPS. This will benefit to about 1.36 lakh NPS employees in the State.

References

^ "Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu - The organiser". The Hindu. 18 December 2022. Archived from the original on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
^ "Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu named new Himachal CM, Mukesh Agnihotri is his deputy". The Indian Express. 10 December 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
^ "Nadaun Election Result - Candidates, MLAs, Live Updates & News". elections.in. Archived from the original on 1 June 2022. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
^ Election Commission of India. "Himachal Pradesh General Legislative Election 2017". eci.gov.in. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
^ "Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu appointed new HPCC chief". Hindustan Times. 1 April 2013. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.
^ Vasudeva, Vikas (13 January 2019). "Cong. appoints new chief in Himachal to end factionalism". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022.