Himachal Pradesh swearing-in ceremony: Jairam Thakur takes oath as 14th chief minister in presence of PM Modi, Amit Shah
Politics | December 27, 2017 12:15 ISTGovernor Aacharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to Jairam Thakur.
Governor Aacharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to Jairam Thakur.
The five-time MLA was elected to lead the BJP government in hilly state after the party's chief ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal failed to be elected from his assembly seat.
Party sources said several TMC leaders were likely to join the BJP in the days to come and the ruling party would find it hard to keep its house in order.
Party sources said several TMC leaders were likely to join the BJP in the days to come and the ruling party would find it hard to keep its house in order.
Addressing BJP workers at the party headquarters here, he was unsparing in his attack on the Congress and critics who, he said, could not accept his party’s victory in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
“The Congress party accepts the verdict of the people and congratulates the new governments in both states," Congress president Rahul Gandhi said.
“If they (critics of EVMs) have anything to say, let them go to the court and prove it. There is no point talking about (criticising EVMs) in every election,” he said.
Echoing his party’s mood, Modi flashed a victory sign after he arrived in Parliament.
The Himachal Pradesh electorate has a history of playing the anti-incumbency card and flipping the party in power every five years - making BJP's win in Himachal a surety from the start.
The giant slayer, who defeated two time former chief minister, is incidentally his protege-turned-bete noire Rajinder Rana.
According to Election Commission data, BJP had won 48.5 per cent or 9,86,592 till 11:30 am, while Congress had earned 41.8 per cent or 8,50,018 votes till that time.
Addressing a press conference, the BJP chief said the BJP will form government in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, and rejected suggestions that there was a "close fight" with the Congress in Modi's home state.
The BJP is set to wrest power in Himachal Pradesh with its candidates on a victory lap in 40 of the 68 seats in the Assembly elections on Monday.
In Himachal Pradesh, BJP is enjoying a landslide victory, if exit polls are to be believed. The halfway mark in the 68 seat assembly is 35.
Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who returned to Shimla after 18 days, dismissed the exit poll results, saying he could well read the mood of the people of the state and the actual results would be opposite to the exit poll projections.
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