Speaker administers oath to newly elected six MLAs in Himachal
Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, administered the oath to six newly elected MLAs in a special ceremony held in the library room of the Assembly at 11 am on Wednesday, 2024.
The MLAs sworn in were Sudhir Sharma(BJP) from Dharamshala, Anuradha Rana (Congress)from Lahaul and Spiti, Captain Ranjit Singh(Congress )from Sujanpur, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal(BJP) from Badsar, Rakesh Kalia(Cong) from Gagret, and Vivek Sharma (Cong )from Kutlahar.
The event was attended by prominent figures including Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, Deputy Speaker Vinay Kumar, and various ministers such as Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Colonel Dhani Ram Shandil, Agriculture Minister Chandra Kumar, Industries Minister Harsh Vardhan Chauhan, Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi, and Education Minister Rohit Thakur.
Other dignitaries present were Parliamentary Secretaries, Vice Chairman of State Forest Corporation Kehar Singh Khachi, former Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar, Gangu Ram Musafir, District Magistrate of Shimla Anupam Kashyap, and Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Gandhi.
Legislative Assembly Secretary Yashpal Sharma conducted the proceedings after receiving permission from the Speaker.
In an informal interaction with the media post-ceremony, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania expressed his congratulations and best wishes to the new MLAs.
He emphasized his expectation that the new members would cooperate effectively and work diligently in the public interest to address the issues within their constituencies.
The six positions became vacant following the disqualification of Congress MLAs who defied the party whip during the budget session. These disqualified members joined the BJP and contested the elections, but only Sudhir Sharma and Inder Dutt Lakhanpal succeeded.
The ceremony also marked an increase in the number of women MLAs in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly to two, with Anuradha Rana joining Reena Kashyap of the BJP from Pachhad.
Currently, three assembly seats remain vacant, with upcoming by-elections announced by the Election Commission of India for the Dhera in Kangra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh in Solan districts.
The Congress now holds 38 seats in the 68-member house, while the BJP holds 27 seats.
