Politics of Himachal Pradesh

The Himachal Pradesh's Legislative Assembly currently has 68 seats who are directly elected from single-seat constituencies.^[2] An election did not take place for 15 years after 1952 due to the enactment of the States Reorganisation Act in 1956 which designated Himachal Pradesh as a Union Territory instead of a Part-C state, falling under the direct control of the President of India.^[3] Accordingly, the Legislative Assembly was dissolved. This was later changed in 1963 when the Government of Union Territories Act was passed, providing Himachal with a Legislative Assembly and Chief Minister again.^[4] Election were first held again in 1967, after the Punjab Reorganisation Act (1966) was passed, transferring some territory to Himachal Pradesh.^[5] Eventually, Himachal Pradesh became a fully fledged state (the 18th of the Union) with the passing of The State of Himachal Pradesh Act in 1970.^[6]

The Indian National Congress dominated the state assembly throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, much like most of the nation. The state's first Chief Minister was Yashwant Singh Parmar, who led the region's early development post-Independence. Parmar is still widely celebrated to this day and is even called "The Founder of Himachal Pradesh".^[7] After differences with party leaders, Parmar eventually resigned in 1977 at the age of 71. Thakur Ram Lal served as the 2nd Chief Minister until the elections that year. However, in 1977, with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's Emergency extremely unpopular throughout the nation, Congress were dealt heavy electoral blows. The state party lost in a landslide to the opposition Janata Party, with Shanta Kumar becoming the state's 3rd Chief Minister. His ministry only lasted for 3 years though, and after multiple party defections,^[8] Congress regained power in February 1980 with Ram Lal once again assuming the office of Chief Minister. This administration didn't last either, and after scandals and political turmoil, Ram Lal was forced to resign in 1983, a year after he'd narrowly won re-election.^[9] He was replaced by fellow Congress leader Virbhadra Singh. Ever since 1985, no incumbent party has managed to retain control of the Legislative Assembly, and power has flipped between the BJP and INC every few years.

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1952	1st Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	24	Yashwant Singh Parmar	INC
			Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party	3
			Independent	8
			Scheduled Caste Federation	1
		Total		36

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1967	2nd Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	34	Yashwant Singh Parmar	INC
			Independent	16
			Bharatiya Jana Sangh	7
			Communist Party of India	2
			Swatantra Party	1
		Total		60

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1972	3rd Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	53	Yashwant Singh Parmar	INC
			Independent	7
			Bharatiya Jana Sangh	5
			Lok Raj Party Himachal Pradesh	2
			Communist Party of India (Marxist)	1
		Total		68

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1977	4th Vidhan Sabha		Janta Party	53	Shanta Kumar	JP
			Indian National Congress	9
			Independent	6
		Total		68

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1982	5th Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	31	Thakur Ram Lal	INC
			Bharatiya Janta Party	29
			Independent	6
			Janata Party	2
		Total		68

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1985	6th Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	58	Virbhadra Singh	INC
			Bharatiya Janta Party	7
			Independent	2
			Lok Dal	1
		Total		68

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1990	7th Vidhan Sabha		Bharatiya Janta Party	46	Shanta Kumar	BJP
			Janata Dal	11
			Indian National Congress	9
			Independent	1
			CPI	1
		Total		68

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1993	8th Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	52	Virbhadra Singh	INC
			Bharatiya Janta Party	8
			Independent	7
			Communist Party of India (Marxist)	1
		Total		68

Keys:   BJP (-)   INC (-)   BSP (-)   UKD/UKD(P) (-)   NCP (-)   Independent (-)   CPIM (-)

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
1998	9th Vidhan Sabha		Bharatiya Janta Party	31	Prem Kumar Dhumal	BJP
			Indian National Congress	31
			Himachal Vikas Congress	5
			Independent	1
		Total		68

Keys:   BJP (-)   INC (-)   BSP (-)   UKD/UKD(P) (-)   NCP (-)   Independent (-)   CPIM (-)

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
2003	10th Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	43	Virbhadra Singh	INC
			Bharatiya Janta Party	16
			Independent	6
			Himachal Vikas Congress	1
			Lok Janshakti Party	1
			Loktantrik Morcha Himachal Pradesh	1
		Total		68

The 2007 Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly election were held in Himachal Pradesh in 2007.

Keys:   BJP (-)   INC (-)   BSP (-)   Independent (-)

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
2007	11th Vidhan Sabha		Bharatiya Janta Party	41	Prem Kumar Dhumal	BJP
			Indian National Congress	23
			Independent	3
			Bahujan Samaj Party	1
		Total		68

Keys:   BJP (-)   INC (-)   BSP (-)   UKD/UKD(P) (-)   NCP (-)   Independent (-)   CPIM (-)

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
2012	12th Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	36	Virbhadra Singh	INC
			Bharatiya Janta Party	26
			Independent	5
			Himachal Lokhit Party	1
		Total		68

BJP won 44 out of 68 seats to form the government, ousting Congress party from power. Indian National Congress won 21 seats. Jai Ram Thakur was appointed as Chief Minister after the elections.

Keys:   BJP (-)   INC (-)   BSP (-)   UKD/UKD(P) (-)   NCP (-)   Independent (-)   CPIM (-)

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
2017	13th Vidhan Sabha		Bharatiya Janta Party	44	Jai Ram Thakur	BJP
			Indian National Congress	21
			Independent	2
			Communist Party of India (Marxist)	1
		Total		68

Keys:   INC (-)   BJP (-)   Independent (-)

Election	Vidhan Sabha	Party-wise details			Chief Minister	Party
		Party		Seats
2022	14th Vidhan Sabha		Indian National Congress	40	Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu	INC
			Bharatiya Janta Party	28
		Total		68

• Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly