Virbhadra Singh

Son of late Raja Sir Padam Singh of Bushahr State; born on 23rd June 1934 at Sarahan, District Shimla; B.A. (Hons.), M.A.; educated at Bishop Cotton School, Shimla and St. Stephen's College, Delhi; Married to Smt. Pratibha Singh; One son and four daughters; Agriculturist and Horticulturist.

• Remained President (elected) Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee in 1977,1979 & 1980.
• Elected to third Lok Sabha in 1962 and to fourth Lok Sabha in 1967 from the then Mahasu constituency; was returned to fifth Lok Sabha in 1971, seventh Lok Sabha in 1980 and to fifteenth Lok Sabha in May 2009 (fifth term) from Mandi constituency;
• Remained Member, Estimates Committee, Lok Sabha, ii) Railways Convention Committee; and Chairman, Petitions Committee, Lok Sabha;
• Remained Deputy Minister, Tourism and Civil Aviation, 31-12-1976 to 24-3-1977;
•  Minister of State for Industries, 11-9-1982 to 8-4-1983;
• Union Minister of Steel, 28 May, 2009 to 19 Jan, 2011
• Union Minister of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) from 19th January 2011 to 26 June, 2012.

        Elected to the State Legislative Assembly from Jubbal-Kotkhai (twice) first in a by-election in October 1983 and again in a general election in 1985 before being elected from adjoining Rohru constituency in 1990, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2007 which has now been reserved for S.C after delimitation.

• Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh, from 8th April, 1983 to 5th March, 1990,
• Remained Chief Minister, from 3rd December, 1993 to 23rd March, 1998
• Remained Chief Minister, from 6th March, 2003 to 29th December, 2007;
• Leader of Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, March 1998 to March 2003.

        Became President of HPCC on 26th August, 2012; elected to Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly for the 8th time in December, 2012 from Shimla Rural Assembly Constituency and sworn as Chief Minister of the Himachal Pradesh for the sixth time on 25 December, 2012.

• Special Interest : Social Welfare.
• Languages Known : Hindi, English
• Travels Abroad : Member: 9th Indian delegation to the General Assembly, United Nations,1976, ii) various parliamentary and govt. delegations to U. K., U.S.A., France, Germany, USSR (now Russia) Afghanistan, Nepal, Ghana, Yugoslavia, Guinea, Senegal, Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria and Egypt. Also traveled to various other countries of Europe, America, Middle East and Far East.
• Favourite Pastime : Reading, gardening,
• Sports: Member, Indian International Centre, New Delhi and Shimla Amateur Dramatic Club Gaiety Shimla.
• Awards: i) Silver Elephant award for contribution in Scouts and Guides Movement; ii) Golden Peacock Environment, Leadership award for Promotion of Environment, Wildlife, Environment Governance & Eco-Tourism.
• Social Activities : Remained Chairman, Pradesh Sahitya Samelan; President Sanskrit Sahitya Sammelan and Friends of Soviet Union (now Russia) Society (H.P. State branch); and also remained honorary Captain, Indian Army.

Vidya Stocks

Daughter of late Rai Sahib Amin Chand; born on 8th December, 1927 at Kotgarh, Distt. Shimla; Under Graduate; educated at Delhi University; Married to late Shri Lal Chand Stokes ( Member of Himachal Pradesh Vidha Sabha); Horticulturist and Social Worker.

• Remained Member, National Horticulture Board,
• Governing Council of National Cooperative Union of India;
• President, State Co-operative Union (four years);
• Chairperson, H.P.M.C. Ltd. Nov. 1980 to 14 Nov. 1984;
• Board of Directors, SBI from 1972 to 1973,
• Board of Directors, Air India and Indian Airlines, 1994-97;
• Elected Vice President, (twice) Agriculture Committee of International Farmers Agriculture Producers (IFAP);
• Vice President, National farmers Forum (15years).

• Remained Administrator Asian Games,1972;
• Chairperson, Asian Hockey Disciplinary Committee;
• President, Indian Women's Hockey Federation in 1984- 1988, 1988-1994,1994-98 and 1998 -2009 ;
• Vice-President, Asian Hockey Federation, 1986-90 and 1990-94;
• Chairperson, Task Force Committee;
• Member, Technical Committee of Federation of International Hockey; was Pioneer of the merger of men and women Hockey in India in 2010 and presently life Patron of Hockey India.

• Elected to the State Assembly in 1974 (by-election);
• Re-elected in 1982, 1985, 1990 and 1998 from Theog and in 2003 and 2007 from the adjoining Kumarsain constituency as Congress Candidate.
• Remained Minister of State for Rural Development (Independent Charge) 1984-85;
• Speaker, State Legislative Assembly, 1985-90;
• Leader of the Congress Legislature Group, 1990-92;
• Minister for MPP & Power, March 6, 2003 to December 28, 2007;
• Leader of Opposition in the House from 22.1.2008 to December, 2012.

Elected again to the State Legislative Assembly for the eighth time in 2012 and inducted into Council of Ministers as Irrigation & Public Health Minister with additional charge of Horticulture, Information Technology.

• Special Interest : Upliftment of women, strengthening Mahila Mandals and child care.
• Languages Known : Hindi & English
• Travels Abroad : Travelled extensively all over the world.
• Favourite Pastime : Gardening, reading and painting.
• Awards: Recipient of Indira Gandhi National Leaders Award 2003, Distinguished Fellow of Institute of Directors Award , 2005 and Honorary Fellowship of the Horticulturist Society of India in 2007 for significant contribution in the field of horticulture.