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

The first hurdle is the cabinet formation that reflects the interests of competing pressure groups in the party

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 Sukhvinder 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.

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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.

How Sukhu and his team achieve this will be closely watched considering Himachal's massive debt burden of around Rs 65,000 crore till March 31, 2002.

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 percent 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.

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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.

As per the budget estimates for 2022-23, the total receipts and cash expenditure are estimated at Rs 50,300.41 crore and Rs 51,364.76 crore respectively.

The Revenue Deficit in 2022-23 for Himachal is likely to be Rs 3,903.49 crore and the Fiscal Deficit is expected to be Rs 9,602.36 crore.

The restoration of the old pension scheme, which has been the biggest promise that helped the party romp home to power, is also a challenging task considering that other Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan and Chattisgarh have not been able to implement them.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured that there will be no hindrance to the development of Himachal Pradesh even though the BJP lost power there, getting funds liberally from the BJP-ruled Centre may also be difficult for the Congress.

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On Saturday, Sukhu had said all stakeholders will be taken on board while taking important decisions. "We want to change the system. Give me some time. We need to work hard to bring in a new system and new thinking,” he said.

The Congress made several ambitious promises ranging from a free once-in-four-year pilgrimage for all elderly to a dedicated budget for the promotion of religious tourism in every assembly constituency, as the manifesto included a stand-alone segment titled - "Devsthan and Tirth Yatras" (Temples and Pilgrimages).

The loftiest promise in this section is a pledge of free pilgrimage to any shrine of choice for all elderly in the state. The Congress promised to foot the bill for such a trip every four years. It included a provision for attendants to accompany the elderly on such trips.

A "Dev Bhumi Vikas Nidhi", a fund that entails dedicating budgeting for each assembly constituency to promote religious tourism, has also been promised.

The Congress had made ten promises to the people of Himachal Pradesh which include the restoration of the old pension scheme in its first meeting of the state cabinet, besides giving Rs 1500 to all adult women in the state.

It also sought to woo the poor by promising 300 units of free power to all households and five lakh jobs to the youth.

The party also pledged to form a Rs 680-crore StartUp fund that would include Rs 10 crore for each of the 68 assembly constituencies to provide self-employment opportunities to youths.

The 52-page 'Pratigya Patra - Himachal, Himachaliyat aur Hum' also promised a special budget to MLAs to promote religious tourism, one job per family to those affected by power projects and urban MGNREGA jobs to the unemployed.