E-Paper
Himachal: Counting of votes for 34 wards of Shimla Municipal Corporation underway
Contest between Congress, which is looking to make a comeback in the SMC after 10 years, and BJP that aims to retain the civic body it won for the first time in 2017
The counting of votes for 34 wards of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) is underway and the result is expected by Thursday evening, officials said.
Eight tables have been set up at the counting centre located at a Government Senior Secondary School in Chhota Shimla under tight security. The counting is being done in five phases.
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There are 102 candidates in the fray. Polling was held on May 2 with nearly 59% of the 93,000 voters exercising their franchise. The turnout was 1.2% more than the 2017 SMC elections.
The contest is between the Congress, which is looking to make a comeback in the SMC after 10 years, and the BJP that aims to retain the civic body it won for the first time in 2017.
Elections to the SMC were delayed by a year due to a petition in the Himachal Pradesh high court challenging the delimitation of the wards.
The previous BJP government had increased the number of wards of the Shimla MC from 34 to 41. However, the Congress after coming to power reversed the decision.
Counting of votes polled in wards 1 to 7 were taken up in the first phase, wards 8 to 14 in the second phase, wards 15 to 21 in the third phase, wards 22 to 28 in the fourth phase, and wards 29 to 34 in the fifth phase, said deputy commissioner Aditya Negi, who is also the returning officer.
A total of 55,385 voters, comprising 29,504 men and 25,881 women, exercised their franchise out of the total 93,920 people on the electoral rolls on May 2. The number increased to 55,662 after the inclusion of 277 postal ballots, the DC said.
The maximum polling of 74.9% was recorded in Bhattakufer ward, while the lowest, 46.8%, was registered in Panthaghati ward.
While both the BJP and Congress fielded candidates from all 34 wards, AAP and CPI(M) candidates are contesting from 21 and four seats, respectively.
Of the 34 wards in the civic body’s jurisdiction, 50% are reserved for women and six wards are reserved for Scheduled Castes, including three for women. The remaining 14 wards are unreserved.
According to the voters, the major election issues are 24x7 water supply, new parking facilities, widening of roads, and curbs on drug abuse by youngsters.
All parties have promised to make Shimla green and drug-free and solve the traffic congestion by constructing parking lots. In the 2017 elections, the BJP wrested the civic body from the Congress for the first time in 32 years, winning 17 wards. The Congress won 12 wards, Independents won four, while the CPM registered victory in one ward.
