Rahul picks ex-minister as Himachal CLP leader

SHIMLA: A day after party observers failed to reach a consensus on the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi picked former industries minister Mukesh Agnihotri for the job.

AICC general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde, in charge of the party affairs in Himachal Pradesh, and Bala Sahib Thorat, former Maharashtra minister, arrived here on Thursday for the selection of the CLP leader.

During the meeting, the leaders failed to finalise a name and passed the matter to Gandhi, who decided to pick the four-time legislator from Una’s Haroli.

Agnihotri, who is considered close to former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, started his career as a journalist. He was first elected to the state assembly in 2003 and then re-elected in 2007, 2012 and 2017.

He also held the position of chief parliamentary secretary and chairman, Housing Board, from March 2003 to August 2005.

When elected to the state legislative assembly for the third time in 2012, Agnihotri was inducted in the cabinet as industries minister with additional charge of labour and employment, parliamentary affairs and information and public relations departments.

Earlier, Virbhadra was in the reckoning for the Congress Legislature Party leader’s post. But the Congress, like the BJP, emphasised on introducing a second rung of leadership in the party.

SECOND BUREAUCRATIC RESHUFFLE IN HP

In the second major bureaucratic reshuffle, the state government transferred 36 (Indian Administrative Service) IAS officers, including deputy commissioners of 10 districts on Friday.

The government transferred Shimla deputy commissioner (DC) Rohan Chand Thakur as the director of urban development. He has been replaced by Amit Kashyap. Solan DC Rakesh Kanwar was transferred as director of rural development.