Dharamshala | The Himachal Pradesh government has appointed Dr. Rajesh Sharma as the new Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh School Education Board (HPBOSE), based in Dharamshala. A formal notification regarding his appointment was issued by the School Education Department on Saturday. The terms and conditions of his appointment will be notified separately.
Dr. Rajesh Sharma, a senior Congress leader from Kangra, has been actively associated with the party for a long time. He is a medical professional by background. Over the years, he has remained involved in public and political life in the Kangra region and has previously contested elections from the Kangra Assembly constituency as an independent candidate as well.
In the 2022 Himachal Assembly elections, Dr. Sharma contested from the Dehra Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket but did not succeed. Despite being a prominent local face, his name was overlooked during the recent Dehra by-election, where the party instead fielded Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s wife, Kamlesh Thakur. The move drew criticism from a section of the Congress cadre in Kangra, but Dr. Sharma remained committed to the party.
His appointment as HPBOSE Chairman is seen as a political decision aimed at strengthening the party’s hold in Kangra, one of the most politically significant districts in the state. The position carries administrative importance, especially in light of the ongoing efforts to implement educational reforms under the National Education Policy (NEP) and improve examination and result processes.
With this appointment, the Congress leadership has attempted to address regional aspirations while also rewarding a loyal party worker. All eyes will now be on how Dr. Sharma navigates his new role at the helm of the state’s school education board.
