President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday arrived here for a four-day visit to Himachal Pradesh.

The President was received at Annadale helipad by Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, Speaker Vidhan Sabha Vipin Singh Parmar and other dignitaries. Kovind will address a special session of the State Assembly on Friday to mark the golden jubilee of Himachal Pradesh's statehood.

The President will be staying at the Cecil hotel in Chaura Maidan here instead of The Retreat, the President's residence at Chharabra on the outskirts of Shimla, where he normally stays during his visit to the state. He will be staying at the private hotel as four staff members of The Retreat had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.

All those who come in close contact with the President will have to carry a COVID-19 RT-PCR negative report even if they have been fully vaccinated against the Coronavirus.

Kovind will be the third President to address the Himachal Pradesh assembly after APJ Abdul Kalam in 2003 and Pranab Mukherjee in 2013.

Apart from all sitting MLAs, former legislators, including ex-chief ministers Shanta Kumar and Prem Kumar Dhumal, have been invited to attend the special session. More than 73 former MPs and MLAs have been given their consent to be part of this event.

Notably, Shimla Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate Aditya Negi had imposed restrictions on traffic movement from Kennedy Chowk to Boileauganj via Chaura Maidan during the President's stay from Thursday to Sunday.Issuing the order on Tuesday under section 115 of the Motor Vehicles Act, Negi stated that vehicles of local residents of the area would be allowed on production of residence certificate. However, the vehicles of officials deployed in connection with the President's visit and emergency vehicles are exempted.

On Friday evening, the President will attend a cultural programme and a banquet hosted by the Governor. He will be chief guest at the valedictory ceremony of the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS Officer Trainees of 2018 and 2019 Batches) at the National Academy of Audit and Accounts at Shimla on September 18 and  will leave for Delhi at around 11.15 am on September 19.