SHIMLA: Finally, Mandi has got its due in the politics of Himachal Pradesh.
Jai Ram Thakur, BJP MLA from Seraj will be sworn in as the next Himachal Pradesh chief minister, the first from the district.
Mandi sends 10 MLAs to the state assembly, second only to Kangra that sends 15. In the past , three
Congress leaders from Mandi had tried their luck for the chief ministerial post but without success.
But this time Jai Ram Thakur, five times MLA from Seraj, has broken the jinx. Thakur will be the 13th chief minister of Himachal Pradesh.
BJP’s central observers Nirmala Sitharam and
Narender Tomar
announced the name of Jai Ram Thakur in the presence of all newly elected MLAs, state MPs, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and union health minister J P Nadda at Hotel Peterhoff Shimla on Sunday afternoon.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jairam Thakur to be the Legislature party leader in Himachal Pradesh: Narendra Singh Tomar, Central Observer <a href="https://t.co/q319dmgOzl">pic.twitter.com/q319dmgOzl</a></p>& mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/944849586698444800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 24, 2017</a></blockquote>
Jai Ram Thakur emerged as front runner for the CM's post after the defeat of BJP’s chief ministerial face Prem Kumar Dhumal from Sujanpur. However union health minister J P Nadda, Shimla MLA Suresh Bhardwaj and some others were also believed to be in contention.
In the past three Congress stalwarts from Mandi district- Karam Singh Thakur, Pandit Sukh Ram and
Kaul Singh Thakur had tried their luck but all of them failed to become the chief minister as they could not get the required support due to infighting.
According to sources, in 1962 when Congress MLA from Seraj, Karam Singh Thakur was the main contender for chief ministerial post, he could not succeed due to lack of support from other party leaders including Pandit Sukh Ram. Dr Y S Parmar from Sirmaur became the chief minister on that occasion.
Later when in 1993 Pandit Sukh Ram emerged as the front runner for the chief ministerial post, he could not succeed as other party leaders from Mandi district including Kaul Singh Thakur did not support him. At that time Virbhadra Singh had grabbed the chief ministerial post.
In 2012 assembly election, Congress won the elections and Kaul Singh Thakur staked claim for the chief ministerial post but majority MLAs including those from Mandi district supported the candidature of Virbhadra Singh.
This time BJP high command during election campaign itself had made it clear that Jai Ram Thakur is going to play an important role in the government. This was announced by BJP’s national president Amit Shah while addressing an election rally at Thunag in Seraj.
Following the announcement, it was assumed that Thakur might become the deputy chief minister. But the way the events unfolded, party cadres in all of Mandi are left elated.
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Read MoreAnand Bodh is Senior Assistant Editor with The Times of India in Shimla and has covered militancy in J&K and general news in Punjab and Chandigarh before moving to Himachal Pradesh. He loves the rugged mountains and glaciers, keeps track of development in these areas and occasionally highlights the unique culture and traditions beside politics and environmental issues of this hill state in his writing.
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