New CM, his deputy brace for a bumpy road in Himachal

shimla/ New Delhi: The decisive move on new leadership in Himachal Pradesh notwithstanding, the Congress has its task cut out in the hill state as it faces the twin challenge of keeping factional fighting at bay and delivering on ambitious poll promises.

Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu and his deputy will be bracing for a bumpy ride ahead, with the first hurdle being the cabinet formation that reflects the interests of competing pressure groups in the party, principally the one led by incumbent state chief Pratibha Singh.

Allocation of portfolios would be the immediate vexatious issue for the party, with supporters of Virbhadra Singh already feeling sidelined after the elevation of the late chief minister's professed rival Sukhu. Virbhadra Singh's wife Pratibha Singh may have made all the right noises to start with, but it remains to be seen what bargain she strikes in order to satisfy her camp.

The buzz is that she has sought a meaty portfolio for her son Vikramaditya Singh, who returned to the assembly from Shimla Rural. Sources in the party said the top leadership has agreed to make Vikramaditya Singh a senior minister in the state cabinet. Organisational unity challenge apart, the Congress government in the state would need to hit the ground running and deliver on the manifesto promises, which appeared to have struck a chord with the voters.

The uphill task would be to generate finances for the range of promises which, all put together, would entail an expenditure of around Rs 10,000 crore annually on the part of the state government. With the state's finances already under stress, the CAG has also warned that the state government utilised 74.11 percent of borrowed funds for the repayment of previous borrowings (principal) and 25.89 percent for capital expenditure.

As per the CAG's latest report tabled in the state assembly for 2020-21, around 39 per cent of the debt (amounting to around Rs 25,000 crore) is payable in the next two to five years. Implementing the lofty promises made by the Congress is going to be a challenging task, including providing one lakh jobs in the first year and a total of five lakh jobs in the five-year term.

The immediate task would, however, be to fill the state's 62,000 vacancies in various government departments, which will also push up the employee cost. The promise of giving Rs 1500 to every adult woman in the state would entail Rs 5,000 crore expense annually. Coupled with that the promise of free power of up to 300 units to every household will entail expenses of another Rs 2,500 crore annually while catering to around 15 lakh households, the sources said.