Shimla votes today to elect its councillors

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, May 1

Apart from deciding the fate of 102 candidates contesting the Shimla Municipal Corporation elections tomorrow, the voters will also determine whether the Congress will record a hat-trick of victories or the BJP will snap its losing streak in the hill state. The Congress thumped the BJP 4-0 in by-elections in 2021, and then followed it up with a convincing victory in the Assembly elections last year. Having endured two back-to-back defeats, the BJP will be desperate to stop the Congress juggernaut in the MC polls and head into the general elections next year with a win under its belt.

8 am to 4 pm Voting time

149 polling centres

34 number of wards

May 4 at 10 am Counting of votes

93,920 Total voters

49,759 male

44,161 female

17 documents apart from voter card accepted for voter identification

To stop the Congress from regaining control of the MC after a gap of 10 years, the BJP will rely as much on its 21-pont manifesto as on the charisma of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides offering a ‘freebie’ of free 40,000 litre water and 50 per cent reduction in garbage bills, the BJP has largely focused on the usual demands such as parking lots, public toilets, checking the dog and money menace, improving drainage system, ambulance roads, etc.

The Congress, meanwhile, is banking on the performance of its government in the last four months since it was voted to power along with the 14 promises it has made in its manifesto. Among the prominent promises it has made are making Shimla clean, green and organised, making the city drug-free, clean and uninterrupted supply of water, ducting of the cables, parking and ambulance roads, etc.

“I have been a councillor from Shimla, so who would know the problems of Shimla better than me,” Sukhu said while urging the voters to vote for the Congress candidates on the eve of the voting. For Sukhu, too, the election is crucial as it’s the first elections the party is contesting with him being the Chief Minister.

The other two parties in the fray, the CPM and the AAP, are hoping to surprise the BJP and the Congress in a few wards. Even as their campaign has been low-key affair compared to the big parties, some upset wins can’t be ruled out.