Will restore old pension scheme: Himachal CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu after oath-taking

Tribune News Service

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, December 11

Sukhvinder Singh (58), a son of a bus driver and four-time Congress MLA, was today sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh and the second from Hamirpur, marking a generational shift in the Congress politics.

Will see how it does so: BJP

The Cong has won on promise of implementing the OPS. It will be interesting to see how it fulfils this promise because it hasn’t implemented it in Rajasthan & Chhattisgarh, where the party is in power. Amit Malviya, BJP IT cell chief

Sukhu reaches out—first invite for Pratibha

• Pratibha Singh was the last Congress leader to reach the venue
• Was given warm welcome & was hugged by Rahul and Priyanka
• Sukhu went to Pratibha Singh’s residence Holly Lodge to invite her
• He said being the state unit chief, she was given the first invitation

PM sends greetings

Congratulations to Shri Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu ji on taking oath as CM. I assure all possible cooperation from the Centre for HP’s further development. Narendra Modi, PM

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar administered the oath to Sukhu in Hindi in the presence of the Congress top brass, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan CMs Bhupesh Bhagel and Ashok Gehlot, former Union Minister Anand Sharma, state party chief Pratibha Singh and Sachin Pilot.

Journalist-turned-politician Mukesh Agnihotri (60) took oath of minister along with Sukhu to become the first-ever Deputy Chief Minister in Himachal. The rest of the Cabinet is likely to be picked within a week’s time.

After taking oath, Sukhu said he was committed to providing a clean and transparent government, which would honour the commitments made to people, including the restoration of the old pension scheme (OPS). “Being a common man, I understand the problems faced by people at every step and it will be my endeavour to alleviate these,” he said.

There was an air of jubilation on the Ridge as people attired in traditional dresses from Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti performed nati to the beats of dhols. Sukhu’s 85-year-old mother, Sansaro Devi, had also arrived from her native village in Nadaun to attend the oath-taking.

Pratibha Singh, who was the last Congress leader to reach the venue, was accorded a warm welcome and was hugged by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi. She was seated beside Priyanka Gandhi on the dais.

The elevation of grassroots leader Sukhu, the MLA from Nadaun, marks a generational shift in the state Congress with the passing away of six-time CM Virbhadra Singh last year. Party leaders paid floral tributes to the veteran leader before the oath-taking.

Pitted against the might of central and state BJP leadership, the Congress put up a spirited fight to wrest back power in the hill state.

The Congress victory shattered the dream of the BJP to change the rivaz of “change in power” in Himachal every five years. The Congress managed to win 40 seats, limiting the ruling BJP to 25 segments while Independents emerged victorious in three constituencies.

Out of the seven CMs that Himachal has had, six have been Rajputs except Shanta Kumar, a Brahmin leader from Kangra, who was the CM on two occasions in 1977 and 1990. The other Rajput CMs have been Dr YS Parmar, Ram Lal Thakur, Virbhadra Singh, PK Dhumal, Jai Ram Thakur and the latest entrant Sukhu. Himachal Congress In-charge Rajeev Shukla and AICC secretaries Tejinder Bittu, Sanjay Dutt, Gurkirat Kotli, besides Congress MLAs, were also present on the occasion.

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