Dhawala appointed pro tem speaker of HP assembly
SHIMLA:FORMER minister and legislator from Jawalamukhi, Ramesh Dhawala has sworn in as a Pro-tem speaker of the Himachal Pradesh assembly.
Governor Acharya Dev Vrat administered oath of office and secrecy to the Pro-tem Speaker of the newly-formed Vidhan Sabha. Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur was also present on the occasion.
The oath-taking ceremony was attended by food, civil supplies and consumer affairs minister Kishan Kapoor, education minister Suresh Bhardwaj, urban development minister Sarveen Chaudhary and health and family welfare minister Vipin Parmar. Chief secretary Vineet Chawdhry, additional chief secretaries, secretaries and other senior officers of state government were also present.
Three-time MLA Dhawala, considered close to former CM and Kangra MP Shanta Kumar is a four-time minister. First elected to Vidhan Sabha in 1998 as an independent legislator, Dhawala was instrumental in formation of the BJP- Congress coalition government of 1998 that lasted five years. Dhawala was appointed irrigation and public health (IPH) minister. However, he was removed on March 1, 2001 and re-inducted in the ministry in April 3, 2001. Dhawala was re-elected in 2003 and 2007. In 2007, he was inducted in the cabinet as food and civil supply minister. He lost 2012 election to Congress’ Sanjay Rattan and this time defeated him.
ABOUT PRO TEM SPEAKER
Pro tem (Pro tempore) Speaker holds the post temporarily . He works till the new Speaker and deputy are elected.