Jairam Thakur to take oath as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister on December 27

Senior party leader and former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal proposes his name.

December 24, 2017 02:47 pm | Updated 09:18 pm IST

Jairam Thakur celebrates with his supporters in Shimla

Jairam Thakur celebrates with his supporters in Shimla

The newly elected members of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Sunday elected Jairam Thakur as their new leader paving the way for him to take oath as Chief Minister of the Bharatiya Janata Party government on December 27.

The 52-year-old, five-time MLA from Siraj constituency in Mandi district is going to be the sixth Chief Minister of the hill State.

Sauvé and soft-spoken, Mr. Thakur first got elected to the State Vidhan Sabha in 1998 during the first Prem Kumar Dhumal government from Chahiot, which has now been renamed as Siraj after the delimitation.

Jairam Thakur is greeted after his election as BJP Legislature Party leader at a meeting in Shimla on December 24, 2017.

Jairam Thakur is greeted after his election as BJP Legislature Party leader at a meeting in Shimla on December 24, 2017.

A former RSS pracharak and ABVP activist from the local college in Mandi, he is going to be the first CM from Mandi district, which is the second largest district after Kangra, sending 10 MLAs to the Assembly. This time he has helped make the district totally ‘Congress-mukt (free)’ as the party won nine seats out of 10, with a party sympathiser winning the tenth seat of Jogindernagar.

His name was announced by the party’s central observers and Union Ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Narendra Tomar and JP Nadda in the presence of State party in-charge Mangal Pandey, all MPs and other senior leaders at a meeting in Shimla.

His name was proposed by the former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and seconded by sitting MP Shanta Kumar, Mr. Nadda and State president Satpal Satti.

On Saturday, Mr. Dhumal had made his position clear that he would no longer be a contender for the top post. It was then believed that Mr. Nadda would be the high command’s choice.

However, the high drama and suspense going on since December 18 ended when Mr. Thakur’s name was unanimously accepted by the elected MLAs and the high command.

It is believed that the Prime Minister did not want to spare Mr. Nadda from his duties at the Centre and his organisational role at the top.

A relatively younger leader, Mr. Thakur having the required RSS backing became the automatic choice for the top post.

An agriculturist by profession, he had also remained State BJP president and a Minister of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development in the second Dhumal government of 2007-12. He has two daughters and his wife Sadhana Thakur is a practicing government doctor.

First Chief Minister from Mandi

There is strong wave of jubilation going on in his home district of Mandi from past many days after the party’s Chief Minister designate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost the elections from his own constituency of Sujanpur in Hamirpur district. The people in Mandi were confident this time that they would get the first ever Chief Minister from this district since they had given such a lead to the party.

Earlier also Mr. Karam Singh Thakur from Chachiot in Mandi who came close to become the Chief Minister in early sixties remained a number two in the first Dr. YS Parmar cabinet. Then it was Mr. Sukhram in 1993 who was the high command’s candidate for the chief ministership but he was not accepted by Mr. Virbhadra Singh and his supporters here. Later in 2012 it was Mr. Kaul Singh from Drang in Mandi who was the Congress president but was replaced by Mr. Virbhadra Singh again when the party came into power.

In his first reaction Mr. Jairam Thakur thanked the entire party leadership and expressed gratitude towards the people of the State and Mandi district. He met the Governor along with other senior leaders and staked the claim to form the next government.

 

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