Who is Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, one of the likely candidates to become Himachal CM?

Congress has bagged Himachal Pradesh securing 40 of the 68 seats in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The much-needed electoral win for Congress comes at a time when the party has been struggling both at the state and central levels. With the win, the next question that Congress needs to answer is who will be the Chief Minister in the state.

One of the leading candidates is Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, a three-time MLA from Naduan. Sukhu, who managed to hold on to his seat against BJP’s Vijay Kumar in a tight race despite strong campaigning from the BJP including Amit Shah himself, is one of the favourites to lead the state.

The former president of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee for six years, Sukhu has stated that the chief minister will be chosen by the party's high command. He had previously stated that not choosing a CM face allowed the party to win votes based on its merit and ideology.

“We fought elections under collective leadership. Congress party declared its face last time, then we could not win. Congress party gave priority to ideology and gave pride to the party's symbol. Any candidate having a palm symbol will be the biggest face,” Sukhu told the news agency ANI on December 6.

Sukhu was also the Congress’ campaign committee chief for Himachal and helped the party claw it's way back to electoral success. Sukhu had also been the leader of the opposition against the Jairam Thakur-led BJP government that came to power five years ago. The veteran leader is also thought to be a close aide of Rahul Gandhi as well as a rival of Virbhadra Singh, the late six-time Chief Minister whose wife Pratibha Singh is another contender for the top post.