Four months after winning state assembly polls, and forming its government, the Congress registered an impressive victory in Shimla Municipal Corporation – one of India’s oldest urban municipal entities, which the BJP had won in 2017.
The Congress's stunning victory in the municipal polls is considered significant for the party ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls. The victory is also third in the row after four bypolls in 2021 – when the BJP was in power, and later state assembly elections of 2022 .The BJP has received quite a big blow again this time.
"It’s a landslide victory of the Congress and an endorsement to our policies, good governance and vyavastha Parivartan. The people have reposed a big trust in the leadership and governance. I thank the people from the core of my heart as Shimla is considered the heart of Himachal. Many also call it as Mini-Himachal,” said Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu after the poll results.
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The elections to 34-member Municipal Corporation were held on May 2. The elections were held on the party symbols with 50 percent of the wards reserved for the women candidates. The Congress has swept the poll winning 24 wards while the BJP got reduced to single digit at 9. One ward was also won by the CPM.
The Congress's victory is a clear reflection of the party consolidating its position in the state under a generational change in the leadership, currently under Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu. Moreover, the elections have created a record as a total of 21 women have been elected, forming approximately 61 per cent of a 24-member body.
Himachal Pradesh Congress President Pratibha Singh who was at the Congress office to greet newly elected councillors described the party victory as "a vote to four month achievements of the government and party putting-up a united show in the polls. This will make our task easy for next Lok Sabha poll," she said.
Despite BJP putting-up hoardings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and bringing union minister for Information and Broadcasting Anurag Singh Thakur, besides former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur as star campaigners, the BJP failed to make any head-start or over-turn the state assembly trends.
The BJP, during the campaign had questioned the Congress on its failure to fulfill 10 guarantees like Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and Rs 1500 per month promised to women in the age group of 18 to 60 years.
The Chief Minister, who had taken the campaign in his hand was quick to announce major financial benefits for the government staff including release of 3 percent DA and arrears of salaries and pensions for the employees and pensioners.
The government, in the middle of the campaign, also announced a decision to regularise services of employees who had served for two years on contract basis. The women were also granted Rs 1500 pensions as part of the first phase to fulfill election promises.
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The elections to SMC were held after a near year-long delay. The five-year term of the civic body ended in June 2022, but the elections could not be held due to court cases challenging the delimitation of wards.
The Congress was quite upbeat about its chances after victory in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections in December 2022 and was banking on its performance over the past five months to get over the line.
The BJP, on the other hand, also tried to remind the citizens about major projects initiated when it had governed Shimla Municipal corporation from 2017 to 2022. But it seems it could not counter the anti-incumbency factor as its former Mayor Satya Koundal, who was contesting from her own ward lost the election.
Congress district President Jitender Chaidhary lost from Bharari ward to BJP's Meena Chauhan. The main contest is between ruling Congress, which is looking to make a comeback in the SMC after a gap of 10 years, and BJP which aims to retain the civic body it won for the first time in 2017.
