Himachal Pradesh gets a new Chief Minister as Jai Ram Thakur takes oath

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jai Ram Thakur, who won from Seraj constituency in recently concluded Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, on Wednesday took oath as the new Chief Minister of the state.

Those in attendance at his swearing-in ceremony in Shimla included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, among others. As many as 13 chief ministers from different states attended the ceremony.

As it happened: Swearing-in ceremony of Jai Ram Thakur

The swearing-in ceremony was held at the Ridge Road in Shimla, which is usually thronged by tourists.

#WATCH Oath taking ceremony of Himachal CM elect Jairam Thakur and others in Shimla in the presence of PM Modi https://t.co/UmlrABGVsI — ANI (@ANI) December 27, 2017

Other MLAs to take oath as ministers in Thakur government were Kishan Kapoor, Suresh Bhardwaj, Anil Sharma, Ram Lal Markandey, Vipin Singh Parmar and Virendra Kanwar, Govind Thakur Singh, Vikram Singh, Mahendra Singh Thakur. Sarveen Choudhary is the first female face in the Cabinet.

Before swearing in as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Thakur told mediapersons that his government would try to meet all expectations of people who voted BJP to power in the state.

Most of the VVIPs and guests attending the ceremony landed at Jubbar-Hatti airport and then flown to Annandale helipad by choppers. Following this, they were taken to the venue of the rally in a carcade.

“Security was beefed up in and around the Ridge Ground area since Wednesday morning, with nearly 1,000 security men deployed in the are. Intelligence men in plain clothes, sharp shooters were also deployed at several locations. All entry points at interstate borders were under vigil, said Himachal Pradesh DGP Somesh Goyal.

In the recently concluded state polls, the BJP managed to win on 44 seats, gaining absolute majority to form government in the state. However, party’s chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal could not secure a win, sending the party leadership in a huddle to decide on the name of the new CM of the hilly state. Jai Ram Thakur and J P Nadda were the frontrunners for the post of Chief Minister, but the former was later picked by the BJP for the post.