Votes tied, Dharamsala gets its Mayor via draw of lots
Lalit Mohan
Dharamsala, December 2
Neenu Sharma of the Congress was elected the Mayor of the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation (MC) today through a draw of lots. The Congress managed to win the Mayor’s post despite being in minority in the House.
The Congress has six members in the 17-member House while the BJP has 10 members. The Congress had the support of one Independent candidate. Local MLA Sudhir Sharma also cast his vote. The Congress government had recently made a provision in the Municipal Corporation Act of Himachal to allow local MLAs to vote in the elections to the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
For the post of Mayor, Congress candidate Neenu Sharma and BJP candidate Monica Pathania got nine votes each in a secret ballot. One BJP member reportedly cross-voted in favour of the Congress candidate. Due to a tie in votes, a draw of lots was held and Neenu was elected Mayor.
The BJP won the post of Deputy Mayor. Its candidate Tajinder Kaur got 10 votes while Congress candidate Anurag Dhiman got eight votes.
RS Bali, Congress in-charge for the mayoral election in the Dharamsala MC, later talking to mediapersons, said that the party won the Mayor’s post as people were happy with the policies of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. The Chief Minister worked tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state despite various handicaps, he added.
The Congress had made Bali in-charge for the mayoral election but kept local MLA Sudhir Sharma at bay. The sources said that Sudhir Sharma was not given the responsibility of the election process due to his strong differences with some Congress members of the Dharamsala MC.
Former Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar, who was BJP in-charge for the mayoral election, told The Tribune that one BJP member cross-voted in favour of the Congress candidate. “We will try to identify the black sheep,” he added.
Parmar said that the BJP had filed an objection against the local Congress MLA being allowed to vote in the Mayor’s election. However, the Deputy Commissioner rejected the objection. “We have already challenged the provision made by the Congress government to allow MLAs to vote in the Mayor’s election in the Himachal High Court. The election of the Dharamsala Mayor will also be challenged in court,” he added.
As per the Municipal Corporation Act of Himachal, the Mayor’s tenure is of two and a half years. In Dharamsala, incumbent Mayor Onkar Nehra’s tenure ended last month. He belonged to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category and as per the reservation roster issued by the government, the post of Mayor of the Dharamsala MC was reserved for a woman candidate.
One BJP member cross-voted?
For the post of Mayor, Congress candidate Neenu Sharma and BJP candidate Monica Pathania got nine votes each in secret ballot. One BJP member reportedly cross-voted in favour of the Congress candidate. Due to a tie in votes, a draw of lots was held and Neenu was elected Mayor.
