Shimla, December 30
Prem Kumar Dhumal was today sworn in as the BJP Chief Minister for a second term with much fanfare at the historic Ridge amidst the shouting of slogans by jubilant BJP supporters who turned up in strength from all over the state to attend the ceremony. He is the 16th Chief Minister of the state. During his earlier term he remained in office from March 24, 1998, to March 5, 2003.

Governor V.S. Kokje administered the oath of office and secrecy to Dhumal in the presence of a galaxy of leaders, including BJP prime ministerial candidate L.K.Advani and the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

It was only for the second time that the oath ceremony was held on The Ridge. The only other occasion was on January 25, 1971, when Dr Y.S.Parmar took oath as the first Chief Minister after the grant of statehood to Himachal Pradesh. Besides Advani, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje Scindia ,Uttarkhand Chief Minister B.C.Khanduri, BJP vice presidents Shanta Kumar and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, secretary Rajiv Pratap Singh Rudy, former union minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and in charge of BJP affairs in the state Satya Pal Jain were among the prominent leaders present at the ceremony. No Congress leader was seen on the occasion.

The brief ceremony was over quickly as no other ministers were sworn in today. Dhumal shook hands with the leaders present on the dais and offered them “ladoos” soon after the ceremony. He also touched the feet of Yog Swami Amar Jyoti, who had come specially to attend the ceremony and sought his blessings.

Dhumal left for Delhi after the ceremony ostensibly to attend the rally being organised in connection with the Ram Setu agitation. He is likely to discuss the constitution of his ministry with the high command. He has already announced that the oath ceremony of ministers will take place on January 9.

Born in Hamirpur’s Samirpur village on April 10, 1944, Dhumal entered electoral politics in 1984 when he first contested the parliamentary election. He was elected MP from Hamirpur in 1989, 1991 and 2007, when he successfully contested the by-election from the seat which fell vacant due to the sacking of Suresh Chandel for his involvement in the “cash-for-question” scam.

He remained member of the consultative committee of the Union Ministry of Communications from 1989 to 1996, standing committee for transport and tourism and Railway convention committee from 1991 to 1996 and the NCERT from 1993 to 1996. He was also the alternative chairman of the estimates committee of the Lok Sabha from 1989 to 1991.

A widely travelled person Dhumal was the Indian representative in the International Parliamentary Union (IPU). His speech on the Kashmir issue in the IPU is considered one of the most important documents.