Kangra district is the most populous district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Dharamshala is the administrative headquarters of the district.
Virbhadra Singh was an Indian politician who served 6 terms and 21 years as the 4th Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh. A leader of the Indian National Congress party, he was elected 9 times as a Member of Legislative Assembly to the Himachal Pradesh Vidhan Sabha and 5 times as Member of Parliament to the Lok Sabha. Virbhadra Singh was popularly known by the honorific Raja Sahib. Singh holds the distinction of being the longest serving Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, holding the office from 1983 to 1990, from 1993 to 1998, from 2003 to 2007 and finally from 2012 to 2017, when he was succeeded by the BJP's Jai Ram Thakur. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1962, 1967, 1971, 1980 and 2009. Singh served as a Union Minister in the governments of Indira Gandhi and Manmohan Singh. At the time of his demise, he was serving as an MLA from Arki constituency.
Hamirpur is a town, municipal council and the headquarters of Hamirpur district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is covered by Shivalik Ranges. Hamirpur is located in the Lower West Central Outer Himalayas at an average elevation of 790 M above sea level. Far northern High Altitude Dhauladhar Ranges overlook the city. It is also a major junction on National Highway 3 while National Highway 103 starts at Here. Hamirpur is famous for its high literacy rate, educational institutions and traditional festival of Hamir Utsav. Hamirpur City is spread from Jhaniari to Bhota along NH 3 and NH 103 and is a prominent commercial centre for the district. It is Connected to the National Capital with regular HRTC Volvo and ordinary buses. The nearest airport is Kangra Airport and Mohali International Airport while the nearest railway is in Una at 79 km. Hamirpur City is surrounded by Pine tree forests and has a good city infrastructure ranging from quality educational institutions, NIT, State Universities and Skill Learning centres.
Chaudhary Chander Kumar serving as Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Jawali. Previously he was elected as MLA from Guler constituency for 5 terms between 1983 and 2004. He also served as Minister in serving key portfolios like Higher Education, Health, Environment and so on. He represented the Kangra constituency of Himachal Pradesh as a Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2009.
Prem Kumar Dhumal is an Indian politician who has twice served as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, from March 1998 to March 2003 and again from 1 January 2008 to 25 December 2012. He was the Bharatiya Janata Party's Chief Ministerial candidate for the 2017 Himachal Assembly Election, in which he lost his seat.
Anand Sharma is an Indian politician and former Union Cabinet Minister in charge of Commerce and Industry and Textiles in the Government of India. Since June 2014, Sharma was the Deputy Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament until 2022.
Anurag Singh Thakur is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha from Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh. He was former Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs and Minister of Information and Broadcasting in the Second Modi ministry. His father, Prem Kumar Dhumal was a former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
Dr Rajan Sushant is an Indian politician and a member of Aam Aadmi Party. In the 2009 election he was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Kangra constituency in Himachal Pradesh on BJP ticket. He is a former member of Bhartiya Janata Party.
Jai Ram Thakur is an Indian politician, and was the Chief Minister of the state of Himachal Pradesh from 2017 to 2022. He is serving his sixth term as MLA in the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, winning continuously since 1998 and has previously served as a Cabinet Minister in the Bharatiya Janata Party Government of Himachal Pradesh. Thakur was the Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj from 2009 to 2012. He is serving as Leader of opposition in current legislative assembly of the state.He is elected to Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Seraj Assembly constituency of Mandi district. He won his first election in the year 1998 from now delimited constituency of Chachiot (Seraj).
The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2012 was held in Himachal Pradesh, India in 2012 after the five-year term of the incumbent state legislature and government expired following the assembly elections of 2007. The election chose 68 MLAs to the Vidhan Sabha. The Indian National Congress won a majority of seats as well as the popular vote, and Virbhadra Singh was reappointed as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for his fourth term.
Chandresh Kumari Katoch is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress party. She is a former Minister of Culture in India's central government. She was a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha, representing Jodhpur constituency.
Elections to the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held in February 1990 to elect members of 67 constituencies in Himachal Pradesh, India. The Bharatiya Janata Party won the popular vote and a majority of seats and its leader, Shanta Kumar was appointed as the Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh for his second term. The number of constituencies was set as 68 by the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission of India.
Jagat Prakash "J. P." Nadda is an Indian lawyer and politician who is serving as the 34th Minister of Health, 25th Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers since 2024 and 11th President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2020 and the member of the Rajya Sabha representing Gujarat since 2024. A key decision maker of the BJP, he is a close aide to Narendra Modi. He was the BJP's working president from 2019 to 2020. Nadda was also the Minister of Health and Family Welfare in the first Modi ministry from 2014 to 2019 and Parliamentary Board Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party. Nadda is the Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers in the third Modi ministry.
Khimi Ram Sharma is an Indian politician from the federating unit of Himachal Pradesh of the state of India. He started his career as a Government school teacher serving in different sub divisions in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh. Before he has also worked as a labourer in Public Works Department in Kullu district. He has been elected onto dignified posts since he first contested his election as Zila parishad chairman in Kullu district. He served as MLA from Banjar assembly constituency of Kullu district twice since 2003 to 2012. He has also served as deputy speaker of Vidhan Sabha of Himachal Pradesh in 2007 and later he was elected as BJP chief of Himachal Pradesh. In 2011 he was in state cabinet as forest minister.
The key political players in Himachal Pradesh state in north-west India are the Indian National Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
Kumari Shyama Sharma was an Indian politician and revolutionary. She served as Minister of Law, Panchayati Raj, Food and Civil Supplies (1977–79), Chairperson of Public Accounts Committee (1982-84), Chairperson of Himachal Pradesh Finance Commission (1999), Vice Chairperson of Himachal Planning Board (2000-2003)
Kishan Kapoor is an Indian politician and the member of Bharatiya Janata Party. He was the Member of parliament, Lok Sabha from Kangra Lok Sabha constituency of Himachal Pradesh. He won the seat by a record margin of votes in the General election 2019. He had won by the margin of 4.77 lakh votes which is the 2nd largest voting percentage at 72.2% all over the country. He previously served as Food, Civil supplies & Consumer Affairs minister in the Himachal Pradesh Government. In the past, he has served three terms as a Cabinet minister and five terms as a member of the legislative assembly representing the Dharamshala assembly constituency. He is one of the senior most Bhartiya Janta Party leaders from the state.
Gautam Sharma "Vyathit", is a folklorist, playwright, and poet from Himachal Pradesh, India. He is also known as Gautam Chand Sharma "Vyathit" or just Gautam Vyathit. He is noted for his literary works in Dogri and Hindi, as well as for his various efforts to preserve and nurture the endangered folk arts of Himachal Pradesh, especially those of the Kangra region. Vyathit was the joint recipient of the 2007 Sahitya Akademi Award for his contributions to Himachali languages and literature. 'Vyathit', Gautam Sharma's pen-name in Hindi, means 'pained', or 'distressed'.
The Rajputs in Himachal Pradesh are members of the Rajput community living in the North Indian Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. They ruled a majority of kingdoms of the region and even dominate in Himachal Pradesh politics. The kingdoms of the Hill States of India were mostly in the present day state of Himachal Pradesh, and mostly had Rajput rulers. All of the Chief Ministers who served Himachal Pradesh except for Shanta Kumar belong to the Rajput caste. The Rajputs of Himachal Pradesh fought battles with Tughlaq, Mughal, and Sikh forces, most notable being the Battle of Bhangani, when the Hill States made an alliance against the Sikhs. While some Rajput kingdoms and clans have a long history in Himachal Pradesh, others were established due to the Rajput migrations to the hill regions mostly due to the Islamic invasions.
