Shivam Babu at 10:21, 2 August 2025

2025-08-02T10:21:50Z

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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Lata Thakur
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1941|08|21}}
| birth_place = Gemur, Lahaul, Kullu sub-division, Kangra district, Punjab Province, British India
| office1 = MLA from Lahaul and Spiti assembly constituency <br>(1972-76)
| constituency1 = [[Lahaul and Spiti Assembly constituency|Lahaul and Spiti]]
| party = [[File:Indian National Congress hand logo.svg|20px]] [[Indian National Congress]]
| occupation = Politician
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1976|12|14|1941|01|27}}
| death_place = Pandoh, Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh, India
}}
{{Short description|Indian politician}}
'''Lata Thakur''' (21 August 1941 – 14 December 1976) was an [[India|Indian]] politician. She was an [[Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development Fund|MLA]] from the [[Lahaul and Spiti Assembly constituency|Lahaul and Spiti Assembly Constituency]] in the [[1972 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election|1972 Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly]]. She belonged to the [[Indian National Congress]]. Lata Thakur was the first female legislator from Lahaul and Spiti, and the first female [[Scheduled Tribe]] MLA in all of [[Himachal Pradesh]].<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Rahul Gandhi visits Lahaul-Spiti to woo electorate |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/india/north/story/rahul-gandhi-visits-lahaul-spiti-to-woo-electorate-120382-2012-11-01 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=India Today |language=en}}</ref>

== Political career ==
Lata Thakur was a Scheduled Tribe candidate and won the 1972 MLA seat from Lahaul and Spiti against [[Thakur Devi Singh]] of the [[Lok Raj Party Himachal Pradesh|Lok Raj Party]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last1=Jaffrelot |first1=Christophe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tDN0MinxMigC&q=lata+thakur&pg=PA409 |title=Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies |last2=Kumar |first2=Sanjay |date=2012-05-04 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-51661-0 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RR4c8iuY__MC&dq=lata+thakur+mla+lahaul+spiti&pg=RA4-PA26 |title=Socialist India |date=1972 |publisher=Indian National Congress. All India Congress Committee. |language=en}}</ref>

At Lata Thakur's request, Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]] visited the [[Lahaul and Spiti district|Lahaul]] and [[Spiti Valley|Spiti]] valleys in June 1972.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharma |first=Ashwani |date=2022-02-14 |title=PM Modi To Relive Old Memories In Himachal's Keylong |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-pm-modi-to-relive-old-memories-in-himachals-keylong/360726 |access-date=3 November 2022 |website= |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=India |first=Granthshala |date=2022-09-28 |title=Congress leader Dunichand Thakur no more: Died at the age of 91, Lahaul-Spiti Congress lost priceless Ratan- Ravi Thakur |url=https://granthshala.in/congress-leader-dunichand-thakur-no-more-died-at-the-age-of-91-lahaul-spiti-congress-lost-priceless-ratan-ravi-thakur/ |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=Granthshala India |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Roberto Vitali |url=http://archive.org/details/a-short-guide-to-key-gonpa-roberto-vitali |title=A Short Guide To Key Gonpa |year=2000 |pages=58}}</ref> Gandhi again visited Spiti in June 1974, though this time only to Sumdo, near the Indo-Tibetan frontier. This visit nonetheless further bolstered Congress's and Lata Thakur's position there.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Issar |first=Brigadier Satish K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o1U1EAAAQBAJ&q=lata+thakur |title=Vision, Courage and Service: Life and Times of General T.N. Raina, MVC |date=2021-06-15 |publisher=Vision Books |isbn=978-93-86268-52-5 |language=en}}</ref> Lata Thakur brought about the provision of supplying fuelwood at subsidized rates and without transportation charges to all locals of the remote Spiti valley for the winter.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Bodh |first=Top Singh |title=122 Winter Days Stranded in a snowed-in place |url=https://www.bcmtouring.com/forums/attachments/122-days-trapped-pdf.789632/ |access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref>

Alongside, Lata Thakur served as the president of the Himachal Pradesh Youth Congress Committee.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Biodata of Ravi Thakur |url=https://ncst.gov.in/sites/default/files/documents/commission_profile/biodatavc5856614304.pdf |access-date=3 November 2022 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> As Youth Congress convener, she contended that the youth should be involved in the drawing of development projects.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bBBDAAAAYAAJ&dq=women+on+the+march+1976+lata+thakur+google+books&pg=RA3-PA14 |title=Women on the March |date=1976 |publisher=Smt. Mukul Banerjee for the Women's Front of All India Congress Committee |pages=14 |language=en}}</ref> She also served as the president of the Himalayan Buddhist Society at [[Manali, Himachal Pradesh|Manali]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Himalayan Buddhist Society Manali |url=http://testwebsites.cybraintech.com/hbsm/history.html |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=testwebsites.cybraintech.com |archive-date=3 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221103101226/http://testwebsites.cybraintech.com/hbsm/history.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lata Thakur and [[Vidya Stokes]] were critical of [[Yashwant Singh Parmar]]'s book ''Polyandry in the Himalayas'', claiming that the book could have a negative effect on the women of the state, and that Parmar did not understand Himachali women well.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Elmore |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AbUwDwAAQBAJ&q=lata+thakur+&pg=PA1 |title=Becoming Religious in a Secular Age |date=2016-07-05 |publisher=Univ of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-29054-9 |pages=55 |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Gemur Lahaul Oct20 D72 17824.jpg|thumb|Lata Thakur's native village of Gemur, as seen in October 2020. |261x261px]]

Around the time of the inauguration of the [[Atal Tunnel]] in October 2020, there were claims that Lata Thakur had been instrumental in initiating the idea of building a tunnel under the [[Rohtang Pass]], so as to provide the Lahaul valley with round-the-year road connectivity. The claims were that she had talked to Indira Gandhi of this need on one of the PM's visits to the [[Lahaul and Spiti district]] during Lata's tenure as MLA, and that the chain of events set-off by this discussion had materialised several decades later in the form of the [[Atal Tunnel]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Panwar |first=Tikender Singh |date=30 September 2020 |title=Rohtang Tunnel – Remember the Workers who Built it |url=https://www.newsclick.in/rohtang-tunnel-remember-workers-who-built-it |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=NewsClick |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gupta |first=Dharam Prakash |date=2020-10-16 |title=BJP and Congress leaders vie to draw political mileage from Atal tunnel |url=http://himachalguardian.com/2020/10/bjp-and-congress-leaders-vie-to-draw-political-mileage-from-atal-tunnel/ |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=Himachal Guardian |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Service |first=Statesman News |date=2020-10-04 |title=BJP, Cong spar to stake claim over Atal Tunnel construction |url=https://www.thestatesman.com/cities/shimla/bjp-cong-spar-stake-claim-atal-tunnel-construction-1502927714.html |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=The Statesman |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Personal life ==
Lata Thakur belonged to village Gemur of Lahaul tehsil, [[Lahaul and Spiti district]].<ref name=":0" />

=== Marriage ===
She was married to Nihal Chand Thakur of Gemur.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Tapash Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_otuAAAAMAAJ&q=lata+thakur+lahaul |title=A Profile of the Himalayan Lahaula |date=2002 |publisher=Anthropological Survey of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture, Government of India |isbn=978-81-85579-52-8 |pages=216 |language=en}}</ref> Nihal Chand came from a local noble family. His forefathers had been the wazirs of Kolong in Lahaul since the seventeenth century. He was the younger brother of Lt. Col. [[Kushal Chand]], MVC. Nihal Chand served on the Punjab Tribes Advisory Council until 1966, when Lahaul was merged into the emerging state of [[Himachal Pradesh]]. Nihal Chand had also contested the Himachal Pradesh Assembly seat, but was unsuccessful. He died in 1975.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brentnall |first=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ayYbAvECXQwC&dq=thakur+nihal+chand&pg=PA364 |title=The Princely and Noble Families of the Former Indian Empire: Himachal Pradesh |date=2004 |publisher=Indus Publishing |isbn=978-81-7387-163-4 |pages=364 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sahni |first=Ram Nath |title=Lahaul - The Mystery Land in the Himalayas |publisher=Indus Publishing Company |year=1994 |location=New Delhi |pages=96–100}}</ref>

In 1962, Lata Thakur and Nihal Chand Thakur had a son, whom they named Ravi Thakur, and who upon growing up also became a politician.<ref name=":1" />

=== Death ===
Lata Thakur was killed in a car accident near Pandoh (in [[Mandi district]]) on 14 December 1976, at the age of 35.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=महिला दिवस पर याद आईं लता और इंदिरा |url=https://www.amarujala.com/himachal-pradesh/kullu/Kullu-57143-21 |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=Amar Ujala |language=hi}}</ref>

=== Memorial ===
The Lata Thakur Memorial Stadium in village Udaipur of Lahaul and Spiti district is named after her, where a Lata Thakur Memorial T-20 Cricket Competition is held.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lata Thakur Memorial Stadium (Stadium) - Udaipur, Himachal Pradesh |url=https://www.helpmecovid.com/in/154370_lata-thakur-memorial-stadium |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=www.helpmecovid.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-06-01 |title=कुल्लू |url=https://www.bhaskar.com/HIM-OTH-MAT-latest-kullu-news-020004-2716723-NOR.html/ |access-date=2022-11-03 |website=Dainik Bhaskar |language=hi}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:People from Lahaul and Spiti district]]
[[Category:Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1972–1977]]
[[Category:1941 births]]
[[Category:1976 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women politicians]]
[[Category:1970s in Himachal Pradesh]]
[[Category:People from Punjab Province (British India)]]
[[Category:Road incident deaths in India]]
[[Category:Women members of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly]]

Lata Thakur - Revision history

Shivam Babu at 10:21, 2 August 2025