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][2]

Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
Incumbent Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu since 11 December 2022
Government of Himachal Pradesh
Style	The Honourable (Formal) Mr. Chief Minister (Informal)
Type	Head of Government
Status	Leader of the Executive
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Cabinet Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Reports to	Governor of Himachal Pradesh * Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Residence	Oakover, Shimla
Seat	Himachal Pradesh Secretariat, Shimla
Appointer	Governor of Himachal Pradesh by convention based on ability to command confidence in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Term length	At the confidence of the assembly (5 years) No term limits.[1]
Inaugural holder	Yashwant Singh Parmar
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh
Salary	₹310,000 (US$3,700)/monthly *₹3,720,000 (US$44,000)/annually
Website	Official 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.^[3]

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

Representation of chief ministers by party

1. Office abolished/President's Rule (12.73%)
2. Indian National Congress (61.66%)
3. Janata Party (5.74%)
4. 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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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.^[4] 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.^[6]

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	2 years, 160 days	14th (2022 elections)	Indian National Congress

Statistics

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

#	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	2 years, 160 days*	2 years, 160 days*

Timeline

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. 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. 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.^[7]