Stepping out of the shadow of the Virbhadra family after almost four decades, Congress chose Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as the next chief minister of Himachal Pradesh. 58 years old Sukhu began his stint in politics with the party student wing NSUI and rose to become Himachal Youth Congress president and then state Congress chief. After Congress won 40 seats, there was stiff competition between the state president and Virbhadra Singh’s widow Pratibha Singh but Sukhu, on the basis of the support from MLAs, managed to get himself elected as the leader of the Congress legislature party to become the chief minister.