PM Modi, Amit Shah to attend swearing-in of Jairam Thakur as Himachal CM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah will attend the swearing-in of Jairam Thakur as the new Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister here on December 27, the party said on Sunday.

Thakur, a confidant of Union Health Minister J P Nadda and associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, will take oath as the new Chief Minister along with his Cabinet colleagues at the Ridge in the state capital.

The Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states will attend the swearing-in ceremony, said a senior BJP leader.

Earlier in the day, newly elected legislators of the Bharatiya Janata Party chose five-time legislator Thakur as their leader.

He along with senior leaders later met Governor Acharya Devvrat to stake claim to form the new state government.

The BJP wrested power in Himachal from the Congress, winning close to a two-thirds majority with 44 seats in the 68-member assembly. The Congress won 21 seats, independents two and the Communist Party of India-Marxist one.