Jai Ram Thakur takes oath as Himachal Pradesh chief minister; Narendra Modi, Amit Shah in attendance
Jairam Thakur sworn in as sixth chief minister of Himachal Pradesh; Narendra Modi, Amit Shah in attendance
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Jai Ram Thakur was on Wednesday sworn in as the sixth chief minister of Himachal Pradesh along with 11 other ministers at a ceremony at the historic Ridge Ground in Shimla. Twitter/@AmitShah
The ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, BJP veteran LK Advani, chief ministers of various BJP-ruled states and a host of Union ministers. PTI
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 52-year-old Thakur, a five-time MLA from Seraj. Thakur, who rose through the ranks, is known for his humble and clean image and low-profile nature. Firstpost/S Chauhan
Thakur was elected to lead the state after the party's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal failed to register a win from his constituency. The ceremony was attended by thousands of party workers and supporters. Twitter/@NarendraModi
After Thakur, Mahendra Singh, the seven-time MLA from Dharampur in Mandi district took the oath as cabinet minister. The 12-member cabinet has six former ministers and an equal number of first-timers. Firstpost/S Chauhan
Kishan Kapoor, former transport minister and MLA from Dharamshala, took oath of office. The BJP had won 44 out of 68 seats in the recently concluded state assembly elections in November. Firstpost/S Chauhan
Suresh Bharadwaj, a four-time MLA from Shimla, took oath in Sanskrit. Bhardwaj was elected as an MLA in 1990, 2007, and 2012, and was also nominated for the panel of chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. Firstpost/S Chauhan
Thakur's 12-member cabinet includes Mohinder Singh, Sarveen Chaudhary, Anil Sharma, Ram Lal Markanday, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Vikram Thakur, Gobind Thakur and Rajeev Sahjal. PTI