BJP wins 3 of 4 municipal corporations in Himachal Pradesh

KULLU: The BJP won the municipal corporation elections in three of the four civic bodies in Himachal Pradesh, the results for which were declared on Sunday.The BJP won in Mandi, Dharamshala and Solan, while the Congress retained control of the Palampur MC.In Dharamshala, the BJP emerged victorious in 11 of the 17 seats, while Congress won 5 and 1 seat went to an Independent candidate.Reacting to the party’s win in Dharamshala, BHP MLA Sudhir Sharma said the victory reflected public anger against the Congress government and growing support for the BJP.He termed the result a clear rejection of the policies and performance of the state government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu."The people have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Congress government's functioning through the ballot," Sharma said, alleging that the government had failed to address issues concerning employees, youth, women, traders and the general public.In Solan, BJP won 10 seats, Congress 6 and Independent 1 and In Palampur, Congress secured a majority in the MC by winning 11 of the 15 seats, leaving 4 for BJP.In Mandi, BJP won in 12 of the 14 wards, securing a comfortable majority in the civic body. The Congress managed to win only one ward, while an Independent candidate emerged victorious in another.The BJP's winning candidates in Mandi include Sarita Handa from Purani Mandi), Nirmal from Paddal, Krishna Thakur from Mangwain, Virender Singh Arya from Sanyard, Jitender Kumar from Talyahar, Gurdeep Kaur from Palace Colony-I, Suman from Palace Colony-II, Neha from Suhra, Jitender from Samkhetar, Gagan from Bhagwahan, Rajni Sharma from Thanehra and Reeta Devi from Dhoundhi.The Congress could win only in Nela ward, where Narvada Devi registered a victory and Congress rebel Alaknanda Handa, contesting as an Independent, defeated senior BJP leader and former district BJP president Ranvir Singh from the Khaliyar ward.In Mandi, MC elections were held in the 14 of the 15 wards as voters in ward no 14 had boycotted the elections.The four MCs had recorded an overall voter turnout of 63.65% in the elections held on May 17, with Palampur registering the highest polling and Solan the lowest. There were a total of 131,369 eligible voters in the four MCs, out of which 83,342 voted.In the 2021 municipal corporation elections, when BJP was in power, the Congress had won a majority in the two corporations — Solan and Palampur — and BJP had secured victory in Mandi MC. In the Dharamshala MC, the BJP had won 8 of the 17 wards, Congress 5, and independents had secured 4 seats.