Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur files nomination from Seraj constituency
Addressing an election rally before filing nomination papers from Seraj, chief minister (CM) Jai Ram Thakur vowed to repeat the government which other leaders couldn’t do in Himachal.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur filed his nomination papers from the Seraj assembly constituency in Mandi district on Wednesday. Thakur is a five-time legislator from Seraj which was earlier known as Chachiot. He has been winning continuously since 1998.
The Congress has fielded Chet Ram Thakur against him. Thakur first contested from Chachiot in 1993.
Addressing an election rally before filing nomination papers at Kuthah, Thakur vowed to repeat the government which other leaders couldn’t do in Himachal.
He said that people have made up their minds to change the “rivaz” (tradition) of alternating government every five years in Himachal Pradesh and it has started from Seraj.
Exhorting his supporters and party workers to take to the field, the chief minister said that it was their responsibility to achieve the mission repeat.
He said that it has been due to the support of the people of Seraj that he has completed 25 years in public life and has again come to seek their blessings.
During his speech, the chief minister recalled the 90s, when there were not enough party workers. “However, we kept on marching and the caravan got bigger,” he said.
“When I contested the 1993 elections, there would be only one or two party workers at 60 polling stations while at some booths there were none,” he said.
“Hills of Seraj are eyewitnesses that while climbing up, we got tired, stopped, sat down but started again. Many of the companions of that time have grown old but are still standing behind me like a rock,” he said.
He said that when he was state party president in 2007, there was a myth that a party president never wins the election. “However, that myth was broken and now we will also change the tradition of changing the government,” he said.
Thakur said he had never imagined that he would be able to carry out such enormous development of the Seraj assembly segment.
“We got an opportunity and we did it together,” he said crediting the party workers, supporters and friends for his accomplishments.
As many as nine candidates filed their nominations on the third day. No nominations were filed in the state during the last two days. Inder Singh Gandhi, the sitting legislator from Balh, filed his nomination while his rival Congress candidate former excise and taxation minister Prakash Chaudhary also filed his nomination. Rajesh Dharmanai, former chief parliamentary secretary, filed his nomination from Ghumarwein.
