The rivalry between Virbhadra Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal is not new to Himachal Pradesh.
The battle between rivals Virbhadra Singh and Prem Kumar Dhumal is heating up in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Elections. The rivalry between Virbhadra Singh, who is 83 years old and Prem Kumar Dhumal, who is 73 years old, is not new to Himachal Pradesh at all. In fact, the battle between the Congress, which is led by Mr Singh and the BJP, led by Mr Dhumal, goes back to 1993. Their rivalry could have almost not have happened for this year's Himachal polls, if the BJP would have stuck to announcing its Chief Ministerial candidate, like it did for the UP elections.
But after the Congress taunted the BJP and the BJP's own in-fighting in the state, Amit Shah announced Mr Dhumal's candidacy. Hence, since 1993, Mr Singh and Mr Dhumal have taken turns to become the face of Himachal Pradesh and for the next five years, starting from 2017, it is going again going to be a close call between either of them.
Mr Virbhadra Singh was elected the Chief Minister on 3rd December, 1993 and held his post until 23rd March, 1998, when his rival Prem Kumar Dhumal rode to victory with the BJP and was the Chief Minister until 5th March, 2003. Not giving up without a fight, Virbhadra Singh sprung back to power in the 2003 Himachal elections, and again became the Chief Minister from 6th March, 2003 until 30th December, 2007.
In yet another upset, Mr Dhumal wrested power from his rival and became the Chief Minister in December, 2007 until December, 2012. The power tussle between the two continued as Mr Singh again occupied the Chief Minister's seat in 2012 until the present day.
And thus, in 2017, the power tussle between the two continues inspite of Mr Singh and Mr Dhumal turning 83 and 73 years old, respectively. Even though the baton has been passed to their heirs, it is yet to be seen whether the 2017 Himachal Pradesh Election will be their last.