20.1.17

Himachal gets 2nd capital

In a sudden move ahead of assembly polls later this year, chief minister Virbhadra Singh declared Dharamshala, situated in the snow-capped Dhauladhar range, the second capital of Himachal Pradesh. Making the announcement he said the town had a history of its own and fully deserved to be the second capital of the state.
The announcement is significant as 25 out of 68 assembly seats fall in Kangra, Una and Hamirpur districts, and Dharamshala was important for lower areas of the hill state including Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una districts.

The chief minister said Dharamshala was already marked prominently in the map of the world due to reasons including religious, natural and adventurous tourism and it being the home of His Holiness the Dalai Lama had attracted prominent personalities throughout the year.

The CM said a full-fledged winter session of HP assembly was held for the first time outside Shimla in December 2005, during his earlier term as the CM. A complete assembly complex was already functional at Tapovan, for which the foundation was laid in his last tenure in 2006. Virbhadra claimed he had introduced the practice of annual winter sojourn way back in 1994 to see for himself the progress of development works being carried out in the area.


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