Prem Kumar Dhumal

Prem Kumar Dhumal (pronounced [preːmə kʊmaːrə d̪ʱuːmələ]; born 10 April 1944) is an Indian politician and was the Bharatiya Janata Party's Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2017 Himachal Assembly Election, in which he lost his seat. He previously served twice as Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, from March 1998 to March 2003 and again from 1 January 2008 to 25 December 2012.

Prem Kumar Dhumal was born on 10 April 1944 in Samirpur village, Hamirpur district. He has MA and LL.B. degrees following his education at Doaba College in Jalandhar and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He became a lecturer at a private college in Punjab.

Dhumal married Sheela, with whom he has two sons, Arun Thakur and Anurag Thakur. The latter is also a politician and has been a member of the 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas.

Dhumal became vice-president of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha 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, refused to stand.

Dhumal lost that election, won in 1989 and 1991, and lost the seat to Major General Bikram Singh in 1996.

After the sudden death of Jagdev Chand in 1993, Dhumal became active in state politics. He was president of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Himachal Pradesh from 1993 and became the state's Chief Minister in March 1998 after winning the Bamsan constituency of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly with a margin of 18,000 votes.

He headed the BJP-Himachal Vikas Congress coalition government for its full statutory term of five years and became Leader of the Opposition when the BJP lost power in 2003, winning only 16 seats despite support from the NDA Union government.

The period also 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 by-election came about because of the expulsion of Suresh Chandel, a BJP Member of Parliament 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 Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh 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 a candidate from the Indian National Congress hence thwarting his chances to lead the government for the third time in Himachal Pradesh.