Son of Capt.  Mahant Ram, born on April 10, 1944 at village Samirpur, District Hamirpur. A postgraduate in English from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and Law from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, he worked as a lecturer at a private college in Punjab before joining the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha and becoming its vice-president in 1982.

Married  on  May  23, 1972  to Smt. Sheela Devi. While serving as collage lecturer, actively participated in union activities, associated  with large number of social organisations such as Bharat Vikas Parishad, Vivekanand Memorial Society and Himachal Hitkarini Sabha.

Remained (i) State Secretary B.J.Y.M, 1980-80. (ii) Vice President B.J.Y.M,  1982-85 (iii) General  Secretary  BJP,  1985-93   and     (iv) President-BJP 1993-98.  Elected  to  Lok Sabha in 1989, 1991 and again in 2007 from Hamirpur  Parliamentary Constituency;  Member:   (i)  Consultative  Committee Ministry   of   Communication,  1989-96   (ii)  Standing  Committee  on Transport &  Tourism,  1991-96   (iii)  Railway  Convention  Committee, 1991-96  and  (iv)  National Council for Teachers' Education, 1993-96; Alternate Chairman,  Estimate Committee (Lok Sabha), 1989-99.  Elected to State Legislative Assembly in March 1998; sworn  in as Chief Minister on March 24, 1998 for the first time. Elected to State Legislative Assembly in 2003 and remained as leader of opposition. Again elected to State Legislative Assembly in December 2007 and sworn  in as Chief Minister on December 30, 2007 for the second time.

SPECIAL INTERESTS:  Welfare of ex-servicemen, development of rural areas, 
educational reforms. improvement of road & rail transport.

VISITS ABROAD:          Visited     U.K.,    U.S.A.    Colombia,
                                Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Brazil etc.
                                as  part    of   Indian    Parliamentary
                                delegation  to   I.P.U.  Conference   at
                                Punta-Del-Este, Uruguay.
        
SPORTS:                    Captained  College  Volleyball team  for
                                three consecutive years.

FAVOURITES:              Reading;writing short stories & articles
                                for the  news   papers  &  magazines and 
                                listening Music.

PERMANENT ADDRESS:  Village & P.O. Samirpur, Teh. Bhoranj, District Hamirpur.