Congress leader Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has been sworn in as the 15th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. Mukesh Agnihotri has taken oath as Deputy CM along with him.
Mukesh Agnihotri is counted among the veteran leaders of Congress. Earlier, he had hoisted his flag in journalism. Let’s know about his political journey.
Mukesh Agnihotri, who came to politics from journalism, is the first Deputy Chief Minister in Himachal politics. Mukesh is handling the political legacy of his father Omkar Nath.
His father has also contested the assembly elections on a Congress ticket. After his defeat, Mukesh was fielded by Congress from Santoshgarh constituency.
Mukesh Agnihotri, a resident of Gondpur Jaichand in Una district, entered politics directly from the legislature.
Mukesh was born on 9 October 1962 in Sangrur, Punjab, to Omkar Chand Sharma, a DPRO. His early education took place in Una district only.
His elder brother is Dr. Rakesh Agnihotri, a physician. He has three sisters. His daughter Aastha Agnihotri, who has studied abroad, is doing PhD.
Wife Simmi Agnihotri is a professor. Agnihotri’s in-laws are in Mandi city. Mukesh took an MSc degree in Mathematics.
Then later did Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations and became a journalist. Mukesh Agnihotri has served as a journalist in Shimla and Delhi for nearly two decades before joining politics.
While doing journalism in Delhi itself, Mukesh’s closeness with the top Congress leadership increased. Later he was one of the close associates of former CM Virbhadra Singh. From here he stepped into politics from journalism.
In the year 1993, Mukesh’s father Pandit Omkar Chand Sharma was made the vice-chairman of the State Agro Packaging Department when Virbhadra Singh became the CM.
Mukesh’s father Omkar Sharma was fielded by the Congress in the 1998 assembly elections from Santoshgarh constituency, but he had to face defeat from the BJP candidate Pandit Jaikishan Sharma.
Congress made Mukesh a candidate in the 2003 state elections. Mukesh won the election for the first time.
In 2007 contested from Santoshgarh constituency and won. Due to delimitation in the year 2012, Santoshgarh went to the Una Vis area.
For the third time, Mukesh contested from Haroli constituency and won. In the year 2017, he registered for his fourth consecutive term, but the government was formed by the BJP.