 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 (MLA), and state stalwart Jagdev Chand, refused to stand.Dhumal lost that election, won in 1989 and 1991, and lost the seat to Major General Bikram Singh in 1996.