BJP MLA from Nahan, Rajiv Bindal to be new Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker

Shimla: Five time MLA Rajiv Bindal would be the next Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti said on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_4277913” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Rajiv Bindal. Twitter @rajeevbindal[/caption] A former minister and a general secretary of the state BJP, Bindal had been an RSS activist all along and also served as a whole timer with the saffron organisation for a few years. He was elected to the state assembly for the first time in a by-election from Solan constituency in 2000 and retained the seat in 2003 and 2007. He contested from Nahan in 2012 after his Solan seat was reserved for scheduled castes and won with a huge margin. He retained the seat this time. Bindal was the health minister in the Dhumal government in 2007 but quit the ministry at the fag end of the term to serve in the party. The BJP has also decided to make Hans Raj, MLA from Churah in Chamba district, the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Satti said. He won the Churah seat in 2012 and retained it this time. With this both Sirmaur and Chamba districts which have no representation in the ministry would get representation.