Seat of Government Shimla Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh Speaker Shri. B.B.L. Butail | Governor Acharya Dev Vrat Assembly Vidhan Sabha Members in Assembly 68 | |
The Government of Himachal Pradesh also known as the State Government of Himachal Pradesh, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and its 12 districts. It consists of an executive branch, led by the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, a judiciary and a legislative branch.
Like other states in India, the head of state of Himachal Pradesh is the Governor, appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Central government. His or her post is largely ceremonial. The Chief Minister is the head of government and is vested with most of the executive powers. Shimla is the capital of Himachal Pradesh, and houses the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly) and the secretariat (Writers' Building). The Himachal Pradesh high court is located in Shimla, which has jurisdiction over the whole of Himachal Pradesh. The present Legislative Assembly of Himachal Pradesh is unicameral.
State administrative structure
The Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly has no pre-Constitution history. The state itself is a post-independence creation. It first came into being as a centrally administered territory on 15 April 1948 by the integration of 30 erstwhile princely states.
Himachal Pradesh is governed through a parliamentary system of representative democracy, a feature the state shares with other Indian states. Universal suffrage is granted to residents.
The legislature of Himachal Pradesh is unicameral and at present, the Assembly has a strength of 68. The tenure of the Assembly is five years unless it is sooner dissolved. There are 14 House Committees in the Assembly.
In the assembly elections held in November 2012, the Congress secured an absolute majority. The Congress won 36 of the 68 seats while the BJP won 26 of the 68 seats. Virbhadra Singh was sworn in as Himachal Pradesh's Chief Minister for a record sixth term in Shimla on 25 December 2012. Virbhadra Singh, who has held the top office in Himachal five times in the past, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Urmila Singh at an open ceremony at the historic Ridge Maidan in Shimla.