A journalist-turned-politician, Mukesh Agnihotri is the Brahmin face of the Congress in Himachal Pradesh and with his elevation to the post of deputy chief minister, the party hopes to sustain the community's support.
The leader of opposition in the outgoing Assembly, Agnihotri, 60, was one of the frontrunners for the post of chief minister. But the party picked Nadaun MLA Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu for the top post and him as his deputy.
Sukhu and Agnihotri took oath on Sunday in a ceremony attended by senior party leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
The five-time MLA from Haroli in Una district, Agnihotri belongs to a Congress family and his father, Onkar Sharma, had unsuccessfully contested the assembly election in 1988 from Santokgarh (now Haroli) after his retirement from the post of district public relations officer (DPRO).
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Agnihotri, who holds a PG Diploma in Public Relations and Advertisement, started his career in journalism as a correspondent in the Hindi daily 'Veer Pratap' and rose to become the bureau head in the 'Jansatta' before joining politics.
He won assembly elections from Haroli in 2003, 2007, 2012, 2017 and 2022. Considered close to former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, he had served as the state's industry minister.
He was made the leader of opposition after the Congress lost the 2017 assembly polls.
The Congress wrested power from the BJP in the hill state winning 40 of the 68 assembly seats. The polling was held on November 12 and the results were declared Thursday. This was the first state election since the demise of Virbhadra Singh in July 2021.