Jairam Thakur to be sworn-in as Himachal Pradesh CM at 11 am today; Narendra Modi, Amit Shah to attend

Jairam Thakur, a five-time MLA from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will be the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, and will be sworn in on Wednesday. The swearing-in ceremony will take place at 11 am at Simla’s historic Ridge Ground, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and chief ministers of other BJP-ruled states are expected to attend. [caption id=“attachment_4276877” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Jairam Thakur with former chief minister PK Dhumal. PTI[/caption] The ceremony is expected to be brief, said the news agency PTI, adding that some ministers will take oath with Thakur but their names are yet to be finalised. Modi is also expected to address people at the venue, it said. It will be for the first time that a prime minister will be attending a swearing-in ceremony of a Himachal Pradesh chief minister, said ANI. Thakur, known for his clean image and a subdued, non-aggressive image, won from Seraj constituency in the Assembly polls defeating Chet Ram of Congress. According to a senior BJP leader, one of the reasons why the 52-year-old BJP leader was selected for the post was that the party would not need to go through a by-election. Thakur’s name was proposed by two-time former chief minister PK Dhumal and seconded by Union minister JP Nadda and another two-time chief minister Shanta Kumar. Thakur met Governor Acharya Devvrat on Sunday to formally stake claim to form the new government in the hill state. In his first remarks after he was elected the BJP legislature party leader, Thakur thanked all party leaders, including Modi, Shah, Nadda, Dhumal and Kumar. “We will try to meet the expectations of the people of Himachal Pradesh. Our dream of a Congress-free Himachal Pradesh has been realised,” Thakur then said while speaking to the media. He will be the first chief minister from Mandi, the second biggest district of Himachal after Kangra. In these elections, the BJP won nine out of 10 Assembly seats in Mandi. Earlier chief ministers of Himachal hailed from Shimla, Kangra and Sirmaur districts. Thakur was also a cabinet minister in the BJP government in the state from 2007 to 2012, under then chief minister Dhumal. With inputs from agencies