Himachal Pradesh Assembly 2022 Minister List: Congress leader Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu on Sunday took oath as the 15th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh at a swearing-in ceremony held in Shimla. The event was attended by senior party leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar. Leader of opposition in the outgoing assembly Mukesh Agnihotri was also administered oath as the state’s first deputy chief minister.

Former Union minister Anand Sharma, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Himachal Congress affairs in-charge Rajeev Shukla, HPCC president Pratibha Singh and senior party leader Sachin Pilot were also present at the swearing-in cermony. Son of a bus driver, 58-year-old Sukhu is a four-time Congress MLA, and hails from Nadaun in Hamirpur district. His family including his mother, wife and daughters were in attendance at the swearing-in ceremony.

This will only be the third Congress government in states across the country currently after Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and both their chief ministers — Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot — were present at the oath-taking ceremony at the historic Ridge ground in Shimla. Except for the two, no other leaders were administered two. There can be a maximum of 12 ministers in the state.

However, no other leader was administered the oath of office in the state which can have a maximum 12 ministers.

Himachal Pradesh full list of ministers in Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu cabinet:

-Chief Minister: Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu
-Deputy Chief Minister: Mukesh Agnihotri

(The list will be updated as names are announced)

The elevation of grassroots leader Sukhu marks a generational shift in the state Congress which has been under the shadow of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh who guided the party in the state for five decades. Before the oath-taking ceremony began, party leaders paid floral tributes to a portrait of the six-time CM Singh.

Keeping with the Himachal political tradition of voting out incumbent governments every successive term, the grand old party wrested power from the BJP, winning 40 of the 68 Assembly seats in the election that was held on November 12. The results of the 2022 Himachal Pradesh election were announced on December 8, along with the Gujarat Assembly election.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Sukhu on taking oath as the CM of the state. “I assure all possible cooperation from the Centre to further the development of Himachal Pradesh,” he said in a tweet.

Also Read | Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu to be new Himachal chief minister, Mukesh Agnihotri Deputy CM

Sukhu’s choice as the chief minister is also being seen as the Congress party shifting its power Centre from Upper Himachal to Lower Himachal. He is the first Congress leader from Lower Himachal — comprising areas merged in Himachal in 1966 such as Nalagarh, Una, Hamirpur, Kangra and lower hills of Kullu — to occupy the top state post, and is the second chief minister from Hamirpur district, after the BJP’s Prem Kumar Dhumal.

All former Congress chief ministers including Y S Parmar, Virbhadra Singh and Ram Lal Thakur were from the Upper Himachal. Sukhu will be the second chief minister from Hamirpur district, after the BJP’s Prem Kumar Dhumal.

Track this space for all updates on the Himachal Pradesh ministers list.