Prem Kumar Dhumal (pronounced ; born 10 April 1944) is an Indian politician and has twice served as the

Chief Minister 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 ...

, from March 1998 to March 2003 and again from 1 January 2008 to 25 December 2012. He was the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

's Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2017 Himachal Assembly Election, in which he lost his seat.

Early life

Prem Kumar Dhumal was born on 10 April 1944 in Samirpur village, Hamirpur district. His father's name was Capt. Mahant Ram and mother Phulmu Devi. He has M.A. (Eng), and LL.B. degrees following his education at Doaba College in

Jalandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

and

Guru Nanak Dev University The university is Entitled by University Grants Commission to offer higher studies degree courses online. Guru Nanak Dev University's campus is spread over near village of Kot Khalsa, nearly west of the Amritsar, next to Khalsa College, A ...

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. He became a lecturer at a private college in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

. Dhumal married Sheela on 23 May 1972, with whom he has two sons, Arun Singh Dhumal and

Anurag Thakur Anurag (Devanagari: अनुराग) (pronounced "Anurāg"), sometimes shorted Anu, is a common Indian first name. There are various meanings of Anurag in Sanskrit such as attachment, devotion, passion and eternal love. Notable people named Anu ...

. The latter is also a politician and has been a member of the 14th and

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

s, as well as Minister of State

Ministry of Finance (India) The Ministry of Finance (IAST: ''Vitta Maṃtrālaya'') is a ministry within the Government of India concerned with the economy of India, serving as the Treasury of India. In particular, it concerns itself with taxation, financial legislation, ...

but was elevated to the rank of Cabinet Minister for Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs and

Minister of Information and Broadcasting Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Ministry of I&B) is a ministerial level agency of the Government of India responsible for the formulation and administration of rules, regulations and laws in the areas of information, broadcasting, the ...

in the July 2021.

Political career

Dhumal became vice-president of the

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) (translation: Indian People's Youth Front) is the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of the two major political parties in India. It was founded in 1978, and its first national president w ...

in 1982. In 1984, he was selected as the candidate for the Hamirpur parliamentary constituency when the sitting Member of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly (MLA), and state stalwart

Jagdev Chand Thakur Jagdev Chand was a stalwart leader of Bharatiya Janata Party from Himachal Pradesh, India. He was elected to Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Hamirpur and served as cabinet minister in Government of Himachal Pradesh. He was ele ...

, refused to stand. Dhumal lost that election but won in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, and before losing the seat to Major General Bikram Singh in the

1996 Indian general election File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

. After the sudden death of

in 1993, Dhumal became active in state politics. Dhumal was elected president of the

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

and became the state's Chief Minister following the March 1998 state assembly elections. He won the Bamsan constituency of the

Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly The seat of the Vidhan Sabha is at Shimla, the capital of the state. The Vidhan Sabha comprises 68 Members of Legislative Assembly, which include 68 members directly elected from single-seat constituency. Its term is 5 years, unless sooner dissol ...

with a margin of 18,000 votes. He headed the BJP-

Himachal Vikas Congress Himachal Vikas Congress (''Himalayan Development Congress''), was a regional political party in Himachal Pradesh, India. Formation Himachal Vikas Congress was formed when Sukh Ram and Anil Sharma split from the Indian National Congress after ...

coalition government for its full statutory term of five years, from 1998 to 2003 and became Leader of the Opposition when the BJP lost power in the 2003 elections, winning only 16 seats despite support from the

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...

(NDA) Union government. His tenure as the chief minister saw significant infrastructure developments, particularly of roads, and gave rise to Dhumal being called the ''Sadak walla Chief Minister''. Dhumal resigned his seat in the Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly upon winning the Hamirpur constituency in a 2007 by-election for the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

. The by-election came about because of the expulsion of

Suresh Chandel Suresh Chandel (born 19 March 1960) is an Indian politician. He was a member of the 12th, 13th and 14th Lok Sabhas of India, representing the Hamirpur constituency of Himachal Pradesh as a member of Bharatiya Janata Party. Chandel was elected ...

, a BJP

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

who had been involved in a cash-for-questions scandal. A further by-election in May 2008 saw Dhumal replaced as MP by his son, Anurag Thakur. Dhumal became

for a second time after being sworn in on 30 December 2007 after the BJP won that year's assembly elections. The BJP lost power in the 2012 elections. In the state assembly elections of 2017, Dhumal stood as a BJP candidate in the Sujanpur constituency and was the party's proposed candidate for the Chief Ministerial office. Even though the BJP gained majority in the elections, Dhumal lost to

Rajinder Rana Rajinder Rana (born 6 April 1966) is an Indian politician representing the Indian National Congress. He is a former member of the 13th Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, representing the Sujanpur assembly constituency of Himachal Pradesh ...

from the Indian National Congress, thwarting his chances to lead the government for the third time in Himachal Pradesh.

Personal interests

He has written large number of articles which have been published in different leading newspapers on political, cultural, sports and other national issues from time to time and he was the general secretary of the Doaba College literary society and editor of college magazine. His social and cultural interests include helping the poor sections of the society in getting good education free of cost or at cheaper cost and helping the poorer sections of society in getting their daughters married. He has special interest in the field of rural development, employment generation, involvement of youth in constructive work and activities, development of tourism, Hydel power in the state, inspire agriculturists to switch over to horticulture, floriculture and heliculture so that they can increase their income. He has interest in reading and listening to good music in free time. He had also been captain of the college volleyball team for three consecutive years and played it up to his university level.

References

External links

* Corruption Issue : http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100121/himachal.htm#4 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dhumal, Prem Kumar Chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party Living people Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh 1944 births India MPs 1989–1991 India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 2004–2009 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 2007–2012 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 2012–2017 Lok Sabha members from Himachal Pradesh People from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh Leaders of the Opposition in Himachal Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh MLAs 1998–2003 Himachal Pradesh MLAs 2003–2007