Legislator from Seraj constituency of Mandi district, Jai Ram Thakur, 52, has taken oath as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh.
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Thakur was born in 1965 at Tandi of Mandi district to Jethu Ram Thakur. He is married to Dr Sadhna Thakur and has two daughters.
Thakur is a graduate from Government College, Mandi. He was actively involved in student politics and held post of Himachal ABVP Joint Secretary, 1986; Organising Secretary, ABVP (J-K), 1989-93; State Secretary, Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha; 1993-95; President: State Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha, ii) BJP District Mandi 2000-03; Vice President State BJP, 2003-05; and state chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party from 2006 to 2009.
Thakur was elected to the state Assembly in 1998; and got re-elected in 2003 and 2007 from Chachiot Assembly Constituency, which after the delimitation has been renamed as Seraj.
Thakur was Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj from 2007-2012.
He was elected to the state Assembly for a consecutive fifth term in December 2017. The results for Himachal elections were declared on 18 December 2017 and BJP won the polls with a comfortable majority. BJP won 44 seats out of 68 constituencies.