ADVERTISEMENT

Jairam Thakur Is Himachal’s New Chief Minister

Five-time BJP MLA, Jairam Thakur will be the new Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.

Jairam Thakur selected as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s legislature party leader in Himachal Pradesh, in Shimla, on December 24, 2017. (Photograph: ANI)
Jairam Thakur selected as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s legislature party leader in Himachal Pradesh, in Shimla, on December 24, 2017. (Photograph: ANI)

Five-time Member of Legislative Assembly for Bharatiya Janata Party, Jairam Thakur will be the new Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh after being elected as the leader of the BJP legislature party today.

The decision was taken at a meeting of BJP MLAs in Simla. Thakur's name was proposed by Suresh Bharadwaj and Mahender Singh and seconded by other members.

While former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had last night opted out of the race, Thakur, a MLA from Seraj in Mandi district, and Union minister JP Nadda were the frontrunners for the chief minister's office.

A lack of consensus among the newly elected MLAs had resulted in the two central observers -- Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Narendra Singh Tomar -- returning to Delhi from Shimla yesterday to hold fresh consultation with the central leadership.

A two-member team of central observers, which was in the state on Dec. 21 and 22, had taken feedback from members of the state BJP's core committee, Ministers of Parliament and some MLAs.