Shimla municipal corporation election: Congress wins 24 wards, BJP manages nine
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Shimla: At the end of counting votes after the Shimla Municipal Corporation election, Congress has won a clear majority with 24 out of 34 wards.
Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu took to Twitter to thank the public for the victory. "I thank the people of Himachal for their historical mandate to @INCHimachal
in Shimla Municipal Corporation where elections were held on the party symbol after 10 years. Congress is reaching its highest-ever tally in Shimla Municipal Corporation. This mandate affirms the trust of people of Himachal Pradesh in our Government and developmental politics," he wrote.
BJP leader and former mayor of Shimla lost to Congress' Mamta Chandel in ward no 19 - Sanjauli Chowk. Congress' Shushma Kuthiala won the Ram Bazar ward (ward no. 14) and Uma Kahshal of Congress from Tutikandi ward won for a third time. Simmi Nanda also won ward no 11 (Nabha). Congress Monica Bhardwaj won Tottu. However, Congress district president Jitendar Chaidhary lost the Bharati ward to BJP's Meena Chauhan.
The BJP won nine seats and CPIM won one seat. On Tuesday, a 59% voter turnout was recorded. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielded 21 candidates but did not win a single seat. Nine independent candidates also failed.
The Congress was anticipating victory after seeing positive results in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections in December 2022. The performance of the past five months played a role in winning the municipal election.
The BJP was in charge of the Shimla Municipal Corporation board from 2017 to 2022.
In the 2017 SMC election, the BJP took the prestigious civic body from the Congress for the first time in 32 years by winning 17 wards. Congress had won 12 wards then. The CPI-M managed to win one ward and the other four wards were won by independent candidates.