Three newly elected Himachal MLAs take oath
Shimla, July 22
Vidhan Sabha Speaker Kuldeep Pathania today administered oath to the three newly elected legislators from Dehra, Hamirpur and Nalagarh. Dehra MLA Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, BJP’s Hamirpur MLA Ashish Sharma and Nalagarh MLA Hardeep Singh Bawa took oath.
Women legislators’ strength rises to 3
- The strength of women legislators in the Vidhan Sabha has risen from one after the 2022 Assembly elections to three after the byelections
- Congress candidates Kamlesh Thakur and Anuradha Rana won the byelections from the Dehra and Lahaul-Spiti segments
- The third woman MLA is Reena Kashyap of the BJP from Pachhad in Sirmaur
- Hardeep Bawa is the lone Sikh legislator in the Assembly after several years
It is for the first time in the history of the Himachal Assembly that a husband and a wife are members of the House. The strength of women MLAs in the 14th Assembly has risen from one after the 2022 Assembly elections to three with Congress candidates Kamlesh Thakur and Anuradha Rana winning the byelections. The third woman MLA is Reena Kashyap of the BJP from Pachhad in Sirmaur district.
The Assembly also got a Sikh MLA after many years in the form of Hardeep Bawa. However, the Assembly does not have any Independent legislator now.
After administering the oath, the Speaker said that he hoped that all nine newly elected MLAs would raise issues concerning their constituencies and the state in the House. “As per the Assembly rules, the House must be convened within six months and since the Vidhan Sabha was adjourned on February 28, the session could be convened in the last week of August,” he added. A training programme for the newly elected MLAs would be held from tomorrow.
The Dehra MLA said that she was indebted to the people of her constituency. “The Congress had not won the Dehra seat since it was created and so I am grateful to the electorate for giving me the opportunity to serve them,” she added.
Ashish Thakur, too, thanked the people of Hamirpur for electing him to represent them for the second consecutive time within a span of 18 months. Bawa said that he was grateful to the party for giving him the opportunity to serve the people of Nalagarh and expressing faith in his leadership.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, ministers, MLAs and supporters of the three MLAs were present in a large number during the oath-taking ceremony.
