Himachal Assembly polls: Prem Kumar Dhumal announced as BJP's CM candidate

New Delhi: Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced Prem Kumar Dhumal as the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly election.

Dhumal is an Indian politician, who has twice been Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh from March 1998 to March 2003 and again from 1 January 2008 to 25 December 2012.

Presently, he holds the designation of Leader of Opposition in the state assembly.

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 and state stalwart Jagdev Chand, refused to stand.

After the sudden death of Jagdev Chand in 1993, Dhumal became active in state politics. He was president of the BJP in Himachal Pradesh from 1993 and became the state's Chief Minister in March 1998.

The BJP Central Election Committee finalised the party's candidate in a meeting in Delhi, for the election, which is scheduled to be held on November 9.

The committee comprised of top leaders including party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

BJP lost to Congress in the 2012 assembly elections, where Virbhadra Singh took over the chair as the Chief Minister of the state.

Earlier this year, BJP won the Shimla Municipal Elections by securing 17 out of 34 seats.

(With agency inputs)