HP Assembly Speaker to be elected on Feb 26

The election for the new Speaker's post for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly will be held on February 26, an official said.

The post is lying vacant since January 16 when House Speaker Rajeev Bindal submitted his resignation to Deputy Speaker Hans Raj. Two days later, Bindal was elected as the state BJP president.

The election for new speaker's post will be held on the second day of the Budget session, Assembly Secretary Yash Paul Sharma said.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the secretary said the budget session will begin on February 25 and will culminate on April 1.

The budget will be presented on March 6, Sharma said.

There will be 22 sittings during the budget session which will begin with the address by governor Bandaru Dattatreya, he said.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who is also holding finance department portfolio, will present budget on March 6 for financial year 2020-21, Sharma said.

Discussion on the budget will be held from March 9-14 and the budget will be passed on March 27, he added.

There will be recess in the budget session from March 15 to 22, Sharma said.