Speaker’s Election: 14^th Assembly

For the Election of Speaker of the HP Vidhan Sabha, the date of the election is fixed by the Governor of the state, and the Secretary, HP Vidhan Sabha, sends a notice of the same to every member of the House.

Any member of the House can nominate another member to be chosen as the Speaker. This nomination must be accompanied by a statement by the nominated member stating that he is willing to serve as the Speaker. The nomination must be seconded by a third member.

During the first session of the fourteenth Vidhan Sabha, the election of the Speaker of the House took place on January 05, 2023. Kuldeep Singh Pathania was the only nominated member for the post. Three separate motions nominating Pathania were received. The first was from Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, the Chief Minister of the state. This motion was seconded by Jairam Thakur, the Leader of the Opposition.

The second motion was from Mukesh Agnihotri, the Deputy Chief Minister. This was seconded by Harshwardhan Chauhan, the MLA from Shillai, Sirmaur. The third motion was from Dr (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil, and this motion was seconded by Vipin Singh Parmar, BJP’s MLA from Sullah, Kangra.

Kuldeep Singh Pathania was elected unopposed to the post.

Kuldeep Singh Pathania was born on September 17, 1957 at Village Chhalara in Chamba. He is the son of Late Shri Baldev Singh Pathania and Smt. Brahmi Devi. He got his primary education at Sihunta, Chamba. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science and an LLB. He has attended Himachal Pradesh University and Lucknow University.

Pathania has been an active member of the Congress since his college days. He organised farmers and labourers of Bhattiyat and made them aware of their legitimate rights. As a lawyer, he provided free legal aid to the poor and vulnerable.

Kuldeep Singh Pathania has practiced law from 1980 to 1985, 1990 to 1993, and 1998 to 2003 at District Court, Chamba and Himachal Pradesh Administrative Tribunal, Shimla.

He has served on numerous posts in the Congress. He has been the President of Block Youth Congress, Bhattiyat; Senior Vice-President, District Congress Committee, Chamba; and Working President, District Congress Committee, Chamba. He has also served as Chief Spokesperson of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee and as the Chairman, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee, Legal Cell.

He was first elected to the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly in 1985, becoming the youngest member of the sixth HP Vidhan Sabha. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 1993. In 2003, Pathania contested the election as an Independent and won. In 2007, he was once again elected to the Assembly as a Congress candidate.

He has served in many Committees of the HP Vidhan Sabha. He served as the Chairman, Committee on Public Undertakings from 1994-98 and Subordinate Legislations Committee from 2003 to 2007. Pathania has also served as a member of Estimates and Public Accounts Committees and headed various Committees of the Government.

He has been a member of the State Planning Board. He has also held the Chairmanship of State Finance Commission from 2004 to 2007 and Himachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board from 2013 to 2017.

He was elected to the HP Legislative Assembly for the 5th time on December 08 , 2022 from Bhattiyat constituency.

He has travelled widely and has visited numerous countries like the US, France, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Dubai, Oman, Egypt, Spain, Switzerland, Ghana, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.

In 1994, Pathania received the “Best Parliamentarian” award. He has attended numerous conferences and seminars worldwide.