JOIN USThe two first met when they worked as activists of BJP's youth wing ABVP in Jaipur decades ago. Years later, they married.
The journey of the husband-wife duo - one who takes oath as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, and his wife, a practising doctor hailing from down south Karnataka - is of struggle and triumph.
The hill state's new chief minister, 52-year-old Jai Ram Thakur, is the son-in-law of Karnataka. His father was a mason. His wife, Dr Sadhana Thakur from Shivamogga, was Sadhana Rao before her marriage.
Dr Sadhana is currently posted in the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha in Shimla as a doctor. The family had a house in Chamarajpet in Bengaluru. Dr Sadhana's father worked with Crompton and Greaves Limited and was transferred to Jaipur in Rajasthan where they eventually settled. Her grandfather worked with the Mysore state railways.
Many credit Dr Sadhana for keeping the spirit of Karnataka alive in the hill state. People known to her family say she remained active in Kannada-related activities in Shimla, interacting with Kannadigas there while embracing the hill culture at the same time. She has remained an active social worker, organising events on women empowerment, medical and blood donation camps etc.
She did her MBBS from SMS Medical College in Jaipur.Dr Sadhana says she met her future husband Jai Ram Thakur in Jaipur when she was an ABVP worker. Thakur was an ABVP activist in Jammu. "He will make a perfect chief minister," she says.
She did her MBBS from SMS Medical College in Jaipur.
The couple has two daughters: younger daughter Chandrika Thakur is pursuing MBBS while the older one is a medical student at Rajendra Prasad medical college in Tanda in Himachal Pradesh.