List of chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh

The chief minister of Himachal Pradesh is the chief executive of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is a state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, the state's governor usually invites the party (or coalition) with a majority of seats to form the government. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years and is subject to no term limits.[1]

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
Current Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
since 11 December 2022
Government of Himachal Pradesh
StyleThe Honourable (Formal)
Mr. Chief Minister (Informal)
TypeHead of Government
StatusLeader of the Executive
AbbreviationCM
Member of
Reports to
ResidenceOakover, Shimla
SeatHimachal Pradesh Secretariat, Shimla
AppointerGovernor of Himachal Pradesh by convention based on appointees ability to command confidence in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Term lengthAt the confidence of the assembly Chief minister's term is for five years
and is subject to no term limits.[1]
Inaugural holderYashwant Singh Parmar
DeputyDeputy Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
Salary
  • 310,000 (US$3,700)/monthly
  • 3,720,000 (US$45,000)/annually
WebsiteOfficial website

Since 1952, seven people have been Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. Four of these belonged to the Indian National Congress party, including inaugural office-holder Yashwant Singh Parmar. After his first term ended in 1956, Himachal Pradesh was made a union territory, and the office of Chief Minister ceased to exist. In 1963, Parmar once again became Chief Minister, and during his reign, in 1971, Himachal regained full statehood. Until March 2015, when he was surpassed by Virbhadra Singh, Parmar was the state's longest-serving chief minister. Between 1993 and 2017, the chief ministership has changed hands every five years between Virbhadra Singh of the Congress and Prem Kumar Dhumal of the Bharatiya Janata Party. All chief ministers except Shanta Kumar, belongs to the Rajput caste.[2]

Chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh (1952–56) and (1963–present)

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Representation of chief ministers by party

  Office abolished/President's Rule (12.73%)
  Indian National Congress (61.66%)
  Janata Party (5.74%)
  Bharatiya Janata Party (19.88%)

The Chief Commissioner's Province of Himachal Pradesh was formed on 15 April 1948 through the integration of 30 erstwhile princely-states. In 1951, Himachal Pradejsh become a Part C state, under the Government of Part C State, 1951 and was brought under a lieutenant governor with 36-member Legislative Assembly. First elections to the Assembly were held in 1952.[3] The Indian National Congress won 24 seats to form a government under Yashwant Singh Parmar.

In 1954, Bilaspur, another part-C State, was merged with Himachal Pradesh. In 1956 it was made a Union Territory and was placed under a lieutenant governor with a Territorial Council with limited powers.[4]

List of chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh (1951–56)

(Part 'C' State)

No[a] Portrait Name Constituency Term of office Assembly

(election)

Party[b]
From To Days in office
1   Yashwant Singh Parmar Pachhad 8 March 1952 31 October 1956 4 years, 237 days Legislative

Assembly

(1952 election)

Indian

National Congress

Office abolished, 1956–63

(Himachal Pradesh became a Union Territory)

In 1963, Himachal Pradesh though being a Union Territory was provided with a Legislative Assembly. The Territorial Council was converted into the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory. The assembly has its first sitting on 1 October 1971.[3] On 18 December 1970, the State of Himachal Pradesh Act was passed by Parliament and the new state came into being on 25 January 1971. Thus Himachal Pradesh emerged as the 18th state of Indian Union.[5]

List of chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh (1963–71)

(Union Territory with Legislature)

No[a] Portrait Name Constituency Term of office Assembly

(election)

Party[c]
From To Days in office
(1)   Yashwant Singh Parmar Shri Renukaji 1 July 1963 4 March 1967 7 years, 208 days 1st

(Territorial Council)

Indian National Congress
4 March 1967 25 January 1971 2nd

(1967 elections)

List of chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh (1971–present)

(State)

(1)   Yashwant Singh Parmar Shri Renukaji 25 January 1971 10 March 1972 6 years, 3 days 2nd

(1967 election)

Indian National Congress
10 March 1972 28 January 1977 3rd

(1972 election)

2   Thakur Ram Lal Jubbal-Kotkhai 28 January 1977 30 April 1977 92 days
 
Vacant[d]
(President's rule)
N/A 30 April 1977 22 June 1977 53 days Dissolved N/A
3   Shanta Kumar Sullah 22 June 1977 14 February 1980 2 years, 237 days 4th

(1977 election)

Janata Party
(2)   Thakur Ram Lal Jubbal-Kotkhai 14 February 1980 15 June 1982 3 years, 53 days Indian National Congress
15 June 1982 8 April 1983 5th

(1982 election)

4   Virbhadra Singh Jubbal-Kotkhai 8 April 1983 8 March 1985 6 years, 331 days
8 March 1985 5 March 1990 6th

(1985 elections)

(3)   Shanta Kumar Palampur 5 March 1990 15 December 1992 2 years, 285 days 7th

(1990 elections)

Bharatiya Janata Party
 
Vacant[d]
(President's rule)
N/A 15 December 1992 3 December 1993 353 days Dissolved N/A
(4)   Virbhadra Singh Rohru 3 December 1993 24 March 1998 4 years, 111 days 8th

(1993 elections)

Indian National Congress
5   Prem Kumar Dhumal Bamsan 24 March 1998 6 March 2003 4 years, 347 days 9th

(1998 elections)

Bharatiya Janata Party
(4)   Virbhadra Singh Rohru 6 March 2003 30 December 2007 4 years, 299 days 10th

(2003 elections)

Indian National Congress
(5)   Prem Kumar Dhumal Bamsan 30 December 2007 25 December 2012 4 years, 361 days 11th

(2007 elections)

Bharatiya Janata Party
(4)   Virbhadra Singh Shimla Rural 25 December 2012 27 December 2017 5 years, 2 days 12th

(2012 elections)

Indian National Congress
6   Jai Ram Thakur Seraj 27 December 2017 11 December 2022 4 years, 349 days 13th

(2017 elections)

Bharatiya Janata Party
7   Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu Nadaun 11 December 2022 incumbent 1 year, 347 days 14th

(2022 elections)

Indian National Congress

Statistics

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List of chief ministers State of Himachal Pradesh (1971–present)

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# Chief Minister Party Term of office
Longest continuous term Total duration of chief ministership
1 Virbhadra Singh INC 6 years, 331 days 21 years, 13 days
2 Prem Kumar Dhumal BJP 4 years, 361 days 9 years, 343 days
3 Yashwant Singh Parmar INC 6 years, 3 days 6 years, 3 days
4 Shanta Kumar JP/BJP 2 years, 285 days 5 years, 157 days
5 Jai Ram Thakur BJP 4 years, 349 days 4 years, 349 days
6 Thakur Ram Lal INC 3 years, 53 days 3 years, 145 days
7 Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu* INC 1 year, 347 days* 1 year, 347 days*

Timeline

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Sukhvinder Singh SukhuJai Ram ThakurPrem Kumar DhumalVirbhadra SinghShanta KumarThakur Ram LalYashwant Singh Parmar

Notes

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Footnotes
  1. ^ a b A number inside brackets indicates that the incumbent has previously held office.
  2. ^ This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he headed may have been a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
  3. ^ This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he headed may have been a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
  4. ^ a b President's rule may be imposed when the "government in a state is not able to function as per the Constitution", which often happens because no party or coalition has a majority in the assembly. When President's rule is in force in a state, its council of ministers stands dissolved. The office of chief minister thus lies vacant, and the administration is taken over by the governor, who functions on behalf of the central government. At times, the legislative assembly also stands dissolved.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b Durga Das Basu. Introduction to the Constitution of India. 1960. 20th Edition, 2011 Reprint. pp. 241, 245. LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa Nagpur. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Himachal Pradesh as well.
  2. ^ "Jai Ram Thakur's Himachal cabinet has a distinctly Rajput flavour". 27 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b "HP Vidhan Sabha".
  4. ^ "Himachal Legislative Assembly". legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. ^ "Himachal Pradesh NIC".
  6. ^ Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005. Retrieved on 3 March 2013.
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