In 1974, he married Satyavati Dang, a Rajya Sabha member and one of the daughters of the orchardist Satyanand Stokes.

Parmar was active in the Praja Mandal movements in the region that would later become the Himachal Pradesh state.

[11][1] In 1948, Parmar was nominated as a member of the All India Congress Committee and later made the adviser of the Chief Commissioner of the newly formed Himachal Pradesh province.

[7] Parmar strongly resisted the merging of Himachal Pradesh with Punjab, as recommended by the States Reorganization Committee in 1956.

In protest, he resigned from the post of Chief Minister, and Himachal Pradesh became a Union Territory.

[12] It was during this long period that Himachal Pradesh finally became a full-fledged state of the Republic of India, on 25 January 1971.

Parmar is credited with giving Himachal Pradesh its present form, and for his pioneering emphasis, in Himachal, on the vital roles of planned multi-sectoral development and road connectivity in the process of developing social, economic, and cultural coherence and progress in this state.

[7][12] Towards the end of his term, however, Parmar's differences with Sanjay Gandhi led to the former's resignation, and his return to his hometown Baghthan in the year 1977.