First session of 13th Himachal Assembly to commence tomorrow; Protem Speaker Ramesh Dhawala will administer oath

Shimla: The first session of the newly-elected Himachal Pradesh Assembly will commence on 9 January, with Protem Speaker Ramesh Dhawala administering oath to the elected members, the state government said on Sunday. [caption id=“attachment_4266641” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Himachal Pradesh Assembly. Image Courtesy DD[/caption] The BJP legislature party and the Congress legislature party would meet at Dharamsala on Monday evening, before the session, it said. There are 22 first-time MLAs in the house. While former chief minister Virbhadra Singh (83), a nine-time MLA is the oldest member of the house, his son Vikramaditya (28) is the youngest. The election for the post of speaker and deputy speaker will be held on 10 January, for which the BJP has named Rajiv Bindal and Hansraj. In the state assembly polls on 9 November, the BJP defeated the Congress and won 44 seats. Congress, on the other hand, secured 21 seats.