Moderate polling in Shimla Municipal Corporation elections

Moderate polling was reported from the 34 wards of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, elections to which started at 8 am on Tuesday.

The results of the elections, which are being held on party symbols, will be declared on Thursday. The civic body's five-year term ended in June 2022 but the elections were delayed by 11 months.

Activists of both the Congress and the BJP -- the main rivals in these elections -- started mobilising their voters to reach the polling booths even as thick fog enveloped the Himachal Pradesh capital on a chilly morning.

The elections are crucial for both the Congress and the BJP.

The Congress is upbeat about its chances after victory in the Himachal Pradesh assembly elections in December and is banking on its performance over the past five months to get over the line. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who led the Congress campaign, has been a two-time councillor in the civic body from the Chotta Shimla ward.

The Congress has promised to introduce policies for the regularisation of multi-storey buildings and a uniform tax regime for both old and merged areas.

The BJP, on the other hand, is banking on the performance of the outgoing Shimla Municipal Corporation board, which it governed from 2017 to 2022. It is touting the initiatives taken by the corporation under the Smart City project and has promised, among others, 40,000 litres of free water to every household a month and a 'One Nigam, One Tax' policy.

According to State Election Commission data, 93,920 voters are registered to exercise their franchises in the elections. These include 49,759 male and 44,161 female voters.

Vikas Nagar ward has the maximum number of voters at 4,161 while Malyana has the lowest at 1,166.

According to the voters, the major election issues are 24x7 water supply, new parking facilities, widening of roads and controlling the drugs menace. All the major parties have promised to make Shimla green and drugs free and solve the traffic congestion issue by constructing parking lots.

Of the 34 wards in the civic body's jurisdiction, 50 per cent are reserved for women. Six wards are reserved for Scheduled Castes, including three for women. The remaining 14 wards are unreserved.

The BJP and the Congress have fielded women candidates from 23 and 18 wards, respectively.

While both the BJP and Congress have fielded candidates from all 34 wards, AAP and CPI(M) candidates are contesting from 21 and four seats, respectively.

The Shimla Municipal Corporation constitutes areas of three assembly segments -- Shimla (Urban), Shimla (Rural) and Kusumpti. All three segments are currently represented by Congress MLAs, two of whom are ministers in Sukhu's cabinet.

In the 2017 elections, the BJP wrested the civic body from the Congress for the first time in 32 years, winning 17 wards. The Congress won 12 wards, the CPI(M) from one and Independents from four.