Template:Infobox political post 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][2] Chief Minister also serves as Leader of the House in the Legislative Assembly.[3]
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 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, have been from the Rajput caste.[4][5]
Oath as the state chief minister
The chief minister serves five years in the office. The following is the oath of the chief minister of state: Template:Blockquote
Chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh (1952–56) and (1963–present)
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.[6] The Indian National Congress won 24 seats to form a government under Yashwant Singh Parmar.
| Portrait | Name | Constituency | Term of office[7] | Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Blank.svg | Template:Sortname | N/A | 12 October 1948 | 26 January 1950 | Template:Ayd | N/A |
| File:Blank.svg | Template:Sortname | N/A | 26 January 1950 | 1 July 1954 | Template:Ayd | N/A |
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.[8]
| List of chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh (1951–56)
(Part 'C' State) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NoTemplate:Efn | Portrait | Name | Constituency | Term of office | Assembly
(election) |
PartyTemplate:Efn | |||
| From | To | Days in office | |||||||
| 1 | File:Yashwant Singh Parmar 1988 stamp of India.jpg | Yashwant Singh Parmar | Pachhad | 8 March 1952 | 31 October 1956 | Template:Age in years and days | Legislative
Assembly |
Indian | width="4px" style="background-color: Template:Party color" | |
| 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.[6] 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.[9]
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Statistics
Statistics for chief ministers of Himachal Pradesh (1971–present)
| # | Chief Minister | Party | Term of office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longest continuous term | Total duration of chief ministership | ||||
| 1 | Virbhadra Singh | Template:Party name with color | 6 years, 331 days | 21 years, 13 days | |
| 2 | Prem Kumar Dhumal | Template:Party name with color | 4 years, 361 days | 9 years, 343 days | |
| 3 | Yashwant Singh Parmar | Template:Party name with color | 6 years, 3 days | 6 years, 3 days | |
| 4 | Shanta Kumar | Template:Party name with color/BJP | 2 years, 285 days | 5 years, 157 days | |
| 5 | Jai Ram Thakur | Template:Party name with color | 4 years, 349 days | 4 years, 349 days | |
| 6 | Thakur Ram Lal | Template:Party name with color | 3 years, 53 days | 3 years, 145 days | |
| 7 | Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu* | Template:Party name with color | Template:Ayd* | Template:Ayd* | |
Timeline
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id:inc value:rgb(0,0.748,1) legend: INC id:jan value:rgb(0.121,0.457,0.996) legend: JP id:bjp value:rgb(1,0.6,0.2) legend: BJP id:gray1 value:gray(0.8) id:gray2 value:gray(0.9)
Define $today = 30/07/2026
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1952 till:$today TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1952 ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1952
Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:150
TextData =
pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text: Political Party
BarData =
bar:Parmar bar:Lal bar:Kumar bar:Singh bar:Dhumal bar:Thakur bar:Sukhu
PlotData =
width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till
bar:Parmar from: 08/03/1952 till: 31/10/1956 color:inc from: 01/07/1963 till: 28/01/1977 color:inc text:"Yashwant Singh Parmar" fontsize:10 bar:Lal from: 28/01/1977 till: 30/04/1977 color:inc from: 14/02/1980 till: 07/04/1983 color:inc text:"Thakur Ram Lal" fontsize:10 bar:Kumar from: 22/06/1977 till: 14/02/1980 color:jan from: 05/03/1990 till: 15/12/1992 color:bjp text:"Shanta Kumar" fontsize:10 bar:Singh from: 07/04/1983 till: 05/03/1990 color:inc from: 03/12/1993 till: 23/03/1998 color:inc from: 06/03/2003 till: 30/12/2007 color:inc from: 25/12/2012 till: 27/12/2017 color:inc text:"Virbhadra Singh" fontsize:10 bar:Dhumal from: 24/03/1998 till: 05/03/2003 color:bjp from: 30/12/2007 till: 25/12/2012 color:bjp text:"Prem Kumar Dhumal" fontsize:10 bar:Thakur from: 27/12/2017 till: 11/12/2022 color:bjp text:"Jai Ram Thakur" fontsize:10 bar:Sukhu from: 11/12/2022 till: $today color:inc text:"Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu" fontsize:10
</timeline>
Notes
- Footnotes
References
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedterm1 - ↑ Note: although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Himachal Pradesh as well.
- ↑ https://apuat21.cgg.gov.in/web/legislative-assembly/leader-of-the-house
- ↑ Jai Ram Thakur's Himachal cabinet has a distinctly Rajput flavour. ThePrint(27 December 2017).
- ↑ Rajputs dominate Himachal's Sukhu team in Cabinet expansion. The New Indian Express(9 January 2023). Retrieved 9 February 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 HP Vidhan Sabha.
- ↑ States of India since 1947. WorldStatesmen.org. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
- ↑ Himachal Legislative Assembly. legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
- ↑ Himachal Pradesh NIC.