First session of Himachal Pradesh begins

Shimla, Jan 11 : The first session of the newly constituted Himachal Pradesh State Legislative Assembly begins in Dharmshala today.

On the opening day, the Pro tem Speaker will administer oath of office to the newly elected members.

The Speaker and the Deputy Speaker will also be elected today. The Bharatiya Janata Party has proposed the name of Barmor MLA Tulsi Ram of Chamba district for the post of Speaker and Banjar MLA Khimi Ram of Kullu district for the post of Deputy Speaker.

State Governor V. S. Kokje will deliver his customary address at the beginning of the two-day winter session.

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal had on Wednesday expanded his cabinet with the induction of nine ministers - Krishan Kapoor, Ramesh Thamala, Ravinder Singh Ravi, Shraveen Chaudhary, Rajiv Bindal, Narinder Bragta, I D Dhiman and Gulab Singh.

ANI