Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Himachal Pradesh, senior Congress leader Kuldeep Singh Rathore was on Thursday appointed as the president of the party's Himachal Pradesh unit, replacing Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu.
The 55-year-old Rathore is a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), a former general secretary and the chief spokesman of the party's state unit, though he has never been an MLA.
An advocate by profession, Rathore comes from the upper Shimla region, considered the apple belt of Himachal. In appointing him, the Congress leadership has sought to balance the regional equation in the state as Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri hails from lower Himachal.
Rathore is also considered close to Congress Rajya Sabha member Anand Sharma.
The removal of Sukhu came ahead of the parliamentary election as a faction led by former chief minister Virbhadra Singh was at loggerheads with him and wanted his removal.
Singh had demanded Sukhu's ouster last year too, but Gandhi did not remove him as the state was headed to assembly elections then.