Shimla MC Election 2023: Congress Gets Clear Majority Winning 24 Seats, Defeats BJP

The Shimla Municipal Coporation (SMC) elections held on Tuesday recorded 59% polling, which was 1.2% higher than the 2017 SMC elections.

New Delhi: The Congress Party won 24 of the 34 Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) wards on Thursday, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won nine and the CPI(M) won one. The counting of votes for Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) wards began today at 10 a.m. The SMC elections held on Tuesday recorded 59% polling, which was 1.2% higher than the 2017 SMC elections. The elections were based on party symbols. Out of the 93,920 people on the electoral rolls on May 2, 55,385 voters (29,504 men and 25,881 women) exercised their right to vote. The total increased to 55,662 after 277 postal ballots were added.

The polling was 58.97 per cent -- male 59.29 per cent and female 58.60 per cent on May 2 which finally increased to 59.3 percent after addition of postal ballots. The maximum polling, 74.9 per cent, was recorded in Bhattakufer ward while the lowest, 46.8 per cent, was registered in Panthaghati ward.

A total of 102 contestants are in the fray including nine independents. While both the BJP and Congress have fielded candidates from all 34 wards, AAP and CPI(M) candidates are contesting from 21 and four seats, respectively.

Out of the 34 wards in the civic body's jurisdiction, 50 per cent are reserved for women and six wards are reserved for Scheduled Castes, including three for women. The remaining 14 wards are unreserved.
The civic body's five-year term ended in June 2022 but the elections were delayed by 11 months.

According to the voters, the major election issues are 24x7 water supply, new parking facilities, widening of roads, and curbs on the drug use by youths.

All major 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.