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.
Although India is a parliamentary democracy, the country's politics has become dynastic or with high level of nepotism, possibly due to the absence of party organizations, independent civil-society associations which mobilize support for a party, or centralized financing of elections. The dynastic phenomenon is present at the national, state, regional, and district level. The Nehru–Gandhi family has produced three Indian prime ministers, and family members have largely led the Congress party since 1978. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also has several dynastic leaders. In addition to the major national parties, other national and regional parties such as Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal Secular, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Kerala Congress, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, Indian Union Muslim League, AIMIM, and the Nationalist Congress Party are all dominated by families, mostly those of the party founders.
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.
Santosh Kumar Gangwar is an Indian politician and the former Minister of State with independent charge in the Ministry of Labour and Employment in the Government of India. He is a Member of Parliament, former minister of state in Government of India and a leader of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He has been Member of Parliament for the city of Bareilly since 1989 till date. He was also the chief whip of the party in 14th Lok Sabha. He faced defeat in the 15th Lok Sabha Elections, 2009 by a very narrow margin. Gangwar was the chairman of the PAC Public Accounts Committee (India) in 2009. He has been elected as Member of Parliament in 16th Lok Sabha. He won by a margin of over 2.4 lakh votes over his rival candidate in 2014 general election. He resigned from the post of cabinet minister ahead of the cabinet reshuffle in July 2021.He is currently the Chairperson of the Committee on Public Undertakings.
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.
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 is the current 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.
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 serving as the 11th national 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 also served as Minister of Health and Family Welfare in the first Modi ministry from 2014 to 2019 and Parliamentary Board Secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party.
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 is the sitting 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 has 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.
Suresh Kumar Kashyap is an Indian politician and President of Himachal Pradesh State Unit of Bharatiya Janata Party.
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.
