With 44 seats, the BJP has won almost a two-thirds majority in the 68-member Himachal assembly, besides raising its tally of states to 14.
In a vote count that went on till past midnight, Mr Dhumal lost in Sujanpur to his Congress opponent Rajendra Singh Rana, who was once his election manager.
Mr Dhumal is a decade younger than Congress's Virbhadra Singh, a six term chief minister who lost power yesterday. Since 1998, the two have taken turns at the Chief Minister's post.
Sources say with an eye on the 2019 polls, the leadership is likely to stick to a name from the Rajput community, which constitutes 38 percent of the population
