Senior Congress leader from Himachal Pradesh and speaker of the dissolved assembly in the state Gulab Singh Thakur on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and was nominated as the party's candidate in the upcoming assembly polls in the state.

Welcoming him into the BJP's fold, party president M Venkaiah Naidu said, "Thakur joining the party would further strengthen the BJP in the state."

Thakur is being fielded from Joginder Nagar.