Jai Ram Thakur will be Himachal CM, to take oath on December 27
CONSENSUS PICK ExCM Dhumal, Union minister Nadda endorse choice of 5time MLA from Seraj
SHIMLA: The BJP picked five-time legislator Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday as its legislature party leader in Himachal, making him the state’s next chief minister.
The 52-year-old MLA for Seraj in Mandi district will be sworn in as the state’s 14th chief minister on December 27 in a grand ceremony that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah are expected to attend.
The announcement ended almost a week of speculation over the top job after the shock defeat of Prem Kumar Dhumal, the BJP’s candidate for the CM’s post, in the assembly elections. The party regained power in the hill state last Monday, winning 44 seats in the 68-member assembly.
“Former CM Dhumal proposed Thakur to be elected as the BJP legislature party leader. Shanta Kumar and JP Nadda supported the proposal,” said Union rural development minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
Tomar is overseeing the process with defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Union minister Nadda and Thakur were among the top contenders after Dhumal’s defeat opened a race for the CM post. But former chief minister Dhumal was still in the reckoning until he opted out on Saturday.
“I hope we can all work for the development of the state collectively. We have requested Modiji and Amit Shahji, besides chief ministers of other states to attend our swearing-in,” Thakur said after thanking the people, the Prime Minister and the BJP chief.
He also thanked Dhumal for proposing his name. The chief minister-elect promised that his government will work for the state’s development.
“People of Himachal have given a strong mandate to the BJP. This victory has come with challenges and big responsibilities,” he said.
Governor Acharya Devvrat invited him to form the government after Thakur and state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti met him at Raj Bhavan.
In Shimla, supporters danced, sang and beat drums after the Rajput leader’s name was announced. The atmosphere was equally festive in Mandi as he is the first leader from the state’s second most politically significant district to become chief minister. The BJP won nine of the 10 seats in Mandi this election.
Thakur, a former state unit chief and rural development and panchayati raj minister in a government headed by Dhumal, is from a farming family of Mandi. He did his post-graduation from Panjab University in Chandigarh and decided to join politics when he was in his 20s.
SHIMLA: From an active worker of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to chief ministerelect of Himachal Pradesh, 52-year-old Jai Ram Thakur has risen through the ranks.
Thakur, born on January 6, 1965, to a poor family in Tandi village of Mandi’s Thunag area, was fourth among five siblings — two sisters and three brothers.
His father Jhethu Ram worked as a mason, struggling to make ends meet.
Thakur went to a local school and completed his Bachelor of Arts (BA) from a college in Mandi where he was a student leader in the early 80s.
He earned a name in student politics and was soon elevated to the post of ABVP state secretary in 1986. After completing college, Thakur joined the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, in the 1990s.
In 1993, aged 28, Thakur began his stint as the chief of BJP’s state unit and contested the assembly polls from Chachiot (now Seraj) constituency.
Thakur lost, only to win the seat in the next election in 1998, and in 2003, in 2007, in 2012. And again in 2017. Known for keeping a low-profile, Thakur was re-elected in 2003. He was made the state BJP chief in 2006.
It was under his leadership that BJP registered an emphatic win in the 2007 polls. He also won a third consecutive term from his assembly segment.
He held the post till 2009, when he was inducted in council of ministers as a minister for rural development and panchayati raj. Thakur was again elected to the assembly for a fourth term in the 2012 assembly polls.
His Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) connections and a strong political profile had him among the favourites for the chief minister’s post.
When he takes oath, he will be the first CM from Mandi district.