The Congress high command has done a balancing act in Himachal by accommodating all the warring factions in various important positions and creating a deputy CM post to do the placating job.

Thus, while Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu has succeeded in getting the coveted  post, his other main contender Mukesh Agnihotri from Haroli, Una a former cabinet minister in Virbhadra Singh’s cabinet and the leader of opposition in the last assembly has been  made the deputy CM. 

But the real challenge was placating and pacifying Sukhu’s main rival in the State Congress Pratibha singh who is the state president and current MP from Mandi parliamentary constituency. 

Pratibha’s husband and 6 time CM of the State the late Virbhadra Singh and the current CM designate Sukhwinder singh sukhu were at loggerheads in the State when Virbhadra Singh was the chief minister and Sukhu was the State president in 2013 and a favorite of the Gandhi’s. That rivalry has continued  since and their was hectic lobbying by both the camps for the chief  ministers chair. 

Pratibha was a strong contender for the CM’s post particularly after her last years victory in the Mandi parliamentary elections which got her the state presidency.

However the dismal performance of the party in Mandi district – which is a part of the parliamentary constituency represented by Pratibha Singh – in the recently concluded  assembly  elections where the Congress could win only one seat out of ten tilted the scales against her even though her supporters raised a crescendo.

A cabinet berth for her son Vikramaditya who is two time MLA from Shimla rural completed the balancing act. Thus all three factions were appropriately accommodated by the party high command. However, the real challenge lies ahead for the new CM in taking all the factions together and delivering  a stable government.