Shimla: The state unit of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday, named its former chief and MLA from Seraj constituency, Jai Ram Thakur as next Chief Minister of the Himachal Pradesh. He will be first politician from Mandi to hold top office in the state government.
BJP had won a record nine of the 10 seats in Mandi district in the just-concluded Assembly elections.
While announcing Jai Ram Thakur’s name Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar reportedly said that “We held consultations with the core group and elected MLAs, all of whom were unanimous in their choice of Jai Ram Thakur.” As reported by the media sources Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, two-time former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, Union Health Minister JP Nadda, Kangra Lok Sabha MP Shanta Kumar, state BJP president Satpal Singh Satti and party MPs Anurag Thakur, Virender Kashyap and Ram Swaroop were also present at that time.
It is stated that Jai Ram Thakur’s name was first suggested by former CM P K Dhumal and seconded by JP Nadda and Shanta Kumar. Immediately after the announcement, Anurag Thakur and Satpal Singh Satti and the two BJP observers met Governor Acharya Dev Vrat to stake claim to form the next government. Thakur will be sworn in on December 27 in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah, reports The Tribune (TT).
Surprisingly, Jai Ram Thakur has a very strong link with the ‘Pro-Hindutva’ fountain head Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). In the past too he had been an active member of the ABVP, student wing of the BJP. Making him an ideal choice for the CM’s office by a pro-hindutva leaning party.