Himachal CM's aide Surender Chauhan Shimla Mayor, Uma Kaushal chosen deputy

Shimla, May 15

Surender Chauhan and Uma Kaushal were today elected Mayor and Deputy Mayor, respectively, of the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

They were elected unopposed after the Congress councillors proposed only two names for the posts and no one from the BJP camp filed nomination. Among the 34 councillors in the MC, 24 are from the Congress, nine from the BJP and one from CPM.

An old associate of CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Chauhan is three-time councillor from Chotta Shimla. It is the same ward from where Sukhu remained a two-time councillor in the 1990s. Uma faced a challenge from other claimants, mainly three-time winner Sushma Kuthiala (Ram Bazaar) and two-time councillor Simi Nanda (Nabha). What apparently tilted the scales in her favour was her own track record and that of her family from the Tutikandi ward. Of the eight elections held for the Shimla MC since 1986, her family has won seven. — TNS

Surender Chauhan (57)

Apart from being a three-time councillor, he has been an aide of Chief Minister Sukhu.

Uma Kaushal (63)

She has won from the Tutikandi ward for the third time. She and her family have won seven poll since 1986 from the ward.