Jai Ram Thakur takes oath as Himachal Pradesh CM

SHIMLA: Jai Ram Thakur has sworn-in as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday morning. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reached Shimla. Several union ministers, top BJP leaders and chief ministers of BJP-led states are present at the grand ceremony being held at Shimla’s Ridge Ground. The oath-taking ceremony will begin shortly.

Thakur won from Seraj constituency, defeating Chet Ram of the Congress. The 52-year-old is a state Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj during the BJP ministry in the hill state.

Here are the live updates of Himachal Pradesh CM’s oath-taking ceremony:

Suresh Bhardwaj takes oath as Himachal cabinet minister

Kishan Kapoor takes oath as cabinet minister

PM Modi, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh wave to the crowd

Mahendra Singh Thakur, MLA from Dharmapur constituency, takes oath as HP cabinet minister

Jai Ram Thakur takes oath as the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister

PM Modi and Amit Shah reach the venue of swearing-in ceremony of Himachal CM 

Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh have reached Shimla’s Ridge Ground.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also on stage. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaches Shimla, received by Jai Ram Thakur. 

Here’s a list of probable ministers in the new Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur’s cabinet:

Probable Cabinet of Himachal 

MINISTERS

1. Suresh Bhardwaj
2. Rajeev Bindal
3. Rajeev Sehjal
4. Govind Thakur
5. Mahinder Singh
6. Anil Sharma
7. Kishan Kapoor
8. Vipin Parmar
9. Sarveen Choudhary
10. Virender Kanwar
11. Ram Lal Markanday

CHIEF PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIES

1. Vikram Jariyal
2. Rajender Garg
3. Kamlesh Kumari
4. Inder Singh
5. Balvir Verma
6. Vikram Thakur
7. SPEAKER
8. Ramesh Dhawala

DEPUTY SPEAKER

1. Hans Raj

“It is a win for the common man. There are a lot of expectations with this government that they will try and solve the problems faced by the public,” says Sadhana Thakur, wife of Jai RamThakur.

“Bohot khushi hoti agar pitaji aaj saath hote, ek saal pehle wo humein chhodkar chale gaye. Mataji aswasth hain, par unka aashirwaad hai aur ye mere liye bohot badi baat hai (Would have been very happy if my father was here with me today. He passed away a year ago. My mother is not well. But I have her blessings, and that is a big thing for me)”, said Thakur

“People have shown faith in us, will try to meet their expectations,” said Thakur 

Most of the VVIPs and guests attending the ceremony will land at Jubbar-Hatti airport and be flown to Annandale helipad by choppers and finally taken to the venue of the rally in a carcade.

Thousands of people have started gathering at the Ridge Ground to witness the oath-taking ceremony which will also be attended by PM Modi and Amit Shah.

Security has been beefed up in and around the Ridge Ground area where the swearing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place. Nearly 1,000 security men have been deployed on duty. Intelligence men in plain clothes, sharp shooters have also been deployed at several locations. All entry points at interstate borders are under vigil, said DGP Somesh Goyal.