Jai Ram Thakur sworn in as HP CM with 11 ministers
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur and his 11 ministers – half of them first-timers – on Wednesday took oath of office at an impressive ceremony attended among others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah. Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to Thakur, who will turn 53 on January 6. This will be his maiden term as Chief Minister, reports IANS.
The swearing-in ceremony at the historic Ridge here was also attended by Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, J.P. Nadda and Nitin Gadkari, besides Chief Ministers of Bharatiya Janata Partyruled states, along with more than 30,000 party supporters from across the state, mostly in traditional attire.
BJP veteran and former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani was also present.
Five-time legislator Thakur, who rose through the ranks and is known for his humble, clean and lowprofile nature, took the oath in Hindi. He had served as the Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister when Prem Kumar Dhumal was Chief Minister (2007-12).
During the ceremony, Thakur, did not wear the trademark maroon flap cap of the BJP, like two-time Chief Minister Dhumal, who was defeated in the elections.
The 12-member ministry has six former ministers and equal number of first-timers in a blend of experienced and new faces. It has six Rajputs, including the Chief Minister, and three Brahmins.
The others who took oath were former Cabinet Ministers Mohinder Singh, Kishan Kapoor, Sarveen Chaudhary and Anil Sharma, former Minister of State Ram Lal Markanday and new faces Suresh Bhardwaj, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Vikram Thakur, Gobind Thakur and Rajeev Sahjal.