Shimla: The first day of the monsoon session of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly kicked off with a sad note. It was dedicated to mourning the passing of former Chief Minister and MLA from Arki Virbhadra Singh, MLA Jubbal-Kotkhai Narinder Bragta, Amar Singh Chaudhary, Mohan Lal and Ram Singh.

During the session, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said that Himachal Pradesh will always be thankful to Virbhadra Singh for his contribution towards the development of the state.  He said that his contributions towards building the state could never be forgotten.

Thakur said that despite being born in a royal family and being the king of Bushahr state, he was a very polite and down to earth person.

“There is no doubt that we had political differences but on a personal level, we used to admire and respect each other.

“Despite being in the opposition party, we learnt a lot from him” he added.

While remembering Narinder Bragta, he said that he was a great leader who used to raise the issues of orchardists in the house fearlessly.

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, Urban Development Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, Congress and BJP MLAs also remembered Virbhadra Singh, Narinder Bragta, Amar Singh Chaudhary, Mohan Lal and Ram Singh.