Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today declared Dharamshala, situated in the snow-capped majestic and mighty Dhauladhar range, the second capital of Himachal Pradesh.Camping at Dharamshala these days during the second week of his annual winter sojourn, he made this declaration after news appeared in some sections of the media, which said that the State government was mulling over declaring Dharamshala as Winter Capital of the State for two months in a year. He said that Dharamshala had a significance and history of its own and fully deserved to be the second capital of the state. He said that Dharamshala held a special importance and value to the lower areas of Himachal Pradesh including Kangra, Chamba, Hamirpur and Una districts. The people of these areas would now be benefitted of this special status and they would not have to travel to longer distance for their works. He said that Dharamshala was already marked prominently not only in the map of India but of the world due to its significance owing to many reasons including religious, natural and adventurous tourism.
He said that Dharamshala was the home of His Highness, the Dalai Lama and attracted the people across the world. Prominent personalities of the world visited this hilly town throughout the year. The Chief Minister said that a full-fledged Winter Session of HP Vidhan Sabha was held for the first time outside Shimla in December, 2005. A complete Vidhan Sabha Bhawan was already working at Tapovan, for which the foundation was laid in his last tenure in 2006. This town had already been a witness of holding 12 Winter Sessions of HP Vidhan Sabha so for.Shri Virbhadra Singh said that he introduced the practice of annual winter sojourn way back in 1994 to hear the people out and see for himself the progress of development works being carried out in the area.