BJP wins Shimla mayoral poll

SHIMLA: A day after elections of mayor and deputy mayor of Shimla municipal corporation (SMC) were postponed for Wednesday after Congress councillors skipped the election, the civic body of the state capital has finally got a new mayor and deputy mayor with ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) grabbing both the posts.

Satya Kaundal has been elected as the new and 14th mayor of the corporation and Shailender Chauhan has been elected as the 13th deputy mayor.

As many as 32 councillors participated in the voting process while the communist party of India (Marxist) councilor Shelly Sharma and independent councilor from Vikasnagar Rachna did not turn up.

Satya Kaundal defeated Congress’ Rakesh Chauhan for the mayor’s post with 21 votes against Chauhan’s 11. Shailendra Chauhan also bagged 21 votes to be elected deputy mayor by defeating Congress candidate Sushma Kuthiyala who got 11 votes.

Kaundal, who was earlier a councillor from Sanjauli ward, thanked the state government, CM Jai Ram Thakur, education minister Suresh Bhardwaj and said “I will ensure that Shimla gets regular supply of clean drinking water and that every house will be connected with sewerage lines. Work of Shimla smart city will also pick pace and we will win the 2022 elections also.”

Shailender Chauhan, who was councillor from Mashobra said, “I would like to appeal to the residents of Shimla to co-operate with us in all developmental works.”

The CM congratulated the office bearers of Shimla municipal corporation and expressed hope that the mayor and deputy mayor would work with full dedication and commitment to develop the town. He said that the Shimla civic body, which is one of the oldest in the country, has glorious history.