For the election-obsessed BJP, the selection of Jai Ram Thakur as the new chief minister of Himachal Pradesh might come handy even in Karnataka, where assembly elections are due in May. The five-time MLA, who belongs to the politically powerful Rajput community, is married to Sadhana, a Kannadiga doctor. They met in the mid-1990s in Jaipur when they were members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the RSS.
It is too early to say whether BJP president Amit Shah will use Thakur's services in Karnataka. However, his elevation marks a generational shift in Himachal politics. It could be the end of the active political career of veterans Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar of the BJP and outgoing chief minister Virbhadra Singh of the Congress.
Thakur, who turns 53 on January 6, has close ties with the RSS, which helped him become chief minister following the unexpected defeat of the BJP's chief ministerial candidate Dhumal. It also helped him overcome the challenge posed by Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, a favourite with the party's central leadership.
Several factors worked for Thakur. “If Nadda, a Brahmin, was picked as chief minister, the Rajput community, which constitutes nearly 35 per cent of the state's population, would have been annoyed,” said a source. This would have coincided with the rise of Virbhadra's son, Vikramaditya, and Congress state president Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu—both Rajputs—who got elected as MLAs.
Moreover, the BJP won nine of ten seats from Thakur's own district, Mandi, reinforcing his influence. “My role is to ensure law and order in the state and to undo the damage done by the Congress,” said Thakur. “But I will not take any vindictive action.”
Politics apart, Thakur is the quintessential family man. After he married Sadhana at the instance of his RSS seniors, his political graph has been on the upswing. Sadhana is from a family of RSS pracharaks. The couple's two daughters, Priyanka and Chandrika, are medical students.
Thakur served as minister for rural development and panchayati raj in the Dhumal government from 2008 to 2012. He headed the state unit of the BJP for three years from 2006.
Success, however, did not come easily to Thakur, who was born in a poor family. There were several occasions when he thought of giving up studies as his father, a farmer, could not afford to support him financially. “My father did not lose heart and he managed to fund my studies,” said Thakur. Even his entry into politics, he said, was by accident. His parents were against the idea as they thought it was only for the rich and the powerful. But during his college education in Mandi, Thakur became a full-time worker of the ABVP, which sent him to Jammu and Kashmir. He later contested the 1993 assembly elections, but lost. Five years later, he won from Seraj, in Mandi district, and has been on a winning spree since then.
Thakur was offered the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in the 2014 general elections. But he declined to contest as he had lost the seat to Virbhadra's wife, Pratibha, in a byelection in 2013. Virbhadra had vacated the seat to take over as chief minister.
Patiently waiting for his turn has paid Thakur rich dividends.
