Shimla: With Congress winning the Himachal Assembly polls, outgoing Chief Minister Jairam Thakur tendered his resignation to governor R V Arlekar on Thursday. "I have handed over my resignation to the Governor. Will never stop working for the development of people. We need to analyse things. There were some issues that changed the direction of the results. I will go to Delhi if they call us," Jairam Thakur said.
The BJP leader said he respected the people's mandate and thanked PM and other central leadership. "We'll stand for the development of the state irrespective of politics. We'll analyse our shortcomings and improve during the next term," Thakur said. Dubbed an "accidental CM" by the opposition, Thakur silenced the opposition by winning the Seraj assembly constituency by a margin of over 32,000 votes over Chet Ram of the Congress.
However, his success turned sour as the Congress surged ahead of the BJP winning 40 out of the 68 seats. Himachal Congress chief Pratibha Singh exuded confidence that the assembly election results will be in favour of her party even as the counting of votes for 68 seats in the state was underway. Pratibha Singh, wife of former chief minister late Virbhadra Singh, said the Congress hoped to win at least 40 to 42 seats, and results showed she was correct.
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Jai Ram Thakur sought to continue as chief minister and break the tradition of 'alternate governments' in the state however he could not buck the trend. The Seraj constituency falls under the Mandi parliamentary seat, which state Congress chief Pratibha Singh represents. She won it in a by-election. Thakur, 57, has won five elections earlier in 1998, 2003, 2007, 2012 and 2017 from Seraj, which was earlier known as the Chachiot constituency.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, the BJP dislodged Congress from power but the saffron party's Chief Ministerial candidate Prem Kumar Dhumal lost in the polls. Following this, Thakur was chosen by the BJP high command as the Chief Minister which led to the opposition poking him as 'accidental CM'.
Jai Ram Thakur's regime has seen BJP losing several bypolls even as several controversies including the appointment of chief secretaries and the recent Himachal Pradesh Public Service Commission row. Nonetheless, Thakur's public popularity and close association with the RSS are by his side.
