List of Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
(Himachal Pradesh Mukhya Mantri)
Incumbent
Virbhadra Singh
since 25 December 2012
Appointer Governor of Himachal Pradesh
Inaugural holder Yashwant Singh Parmar
Formation 8 March 1952

The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh is the chief executive of the north 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]

Since 1952, five people have been Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. Three 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. Since 1993, the chief ministership has changed hands every five years between Virbhadra Singh of the Congress and Prem Kumar Dhumal of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The former is the current incumbent, having been sworn in on 25 December 2012.

Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh

No[lower-alpha 1] Name Portrait Term of office Party[lower-alpha 2] Days in office
1 Yashwant Singh Parmar 8 March 1952 31 October 1956 Indian National Congress 1699 Days
Office abolished, 1956–63
(1) Yashwant Singh Parmar 1 July 1963 28 January 1977 Indian National Congress 4961 Days [Total 6660 Days]
2 Thakur Ram Lal 28 January 1977 30 April 1977 93 Days
– Vacant[lower-alpha 3]
(President's rule)		 30 April 1977 22 June 1977 N/A
3 Shanta Kumar – 22 June 1977 14 February 1980 Janata Party 968 Days
(2) Thakur Ram Lal [2] 14 February 1980 7 April 1983 Indian National Congress 1148 Days [Total 1241 Days]
4 Virbhadra Singh 8 April 1983 8 March 1985 700 Days
8 March 1985 5 March 1990 1824 Days
(3) Shanta Kumar [2] 5 March 1990 15 December 1992 Bharatiya Janata Party 1017 Days [Total 1985 Days]
– Vacant[lower-alpha 3]
(President's rule)		 15 December 1992 3 December 1993 N/A
(4) Virbhadra Singh [3] 3 December 1993 23 March 1998 Indian National Congress 1572 Days
5 Prem Kumar Dhumal [1] 24 March 1998 5 March 2003 Bharatiya Janata Party 1807 Days
(4) Virbhadra Singh [4] 6 March 2003 30 December 2007 Indian National Congress 1761 Days [Total 5857 Days]
(5) Prem Kumar Dhumal [2] 30 December 2007 25 December 2012 Bharatiya Janata Party 1817 Days [Total 3624 Days]
(4) Virbhadra Singh [5] 25 December 2012 Present Indian National Congress

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ↑ 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. 1 2 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.[2]
References
  1. ↑ 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. ↑ Amberish K. Diwanji. "A dummy's guide to President's rule". Rediff.com. 15 March 2005.

External links

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