Solan mayoral elections to be held on August 22

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, August 13

The countdown for the mayoral election in the Solan Municipal Corporation (MC) has begun as the Additional DC today notified August 22 as the polling date. ADC Ajay Yadav confirmed that the Mayoral election for the local MC would be held on August 22 at 12 noon.

The post was lying vacant since July 10 after the incumbent Usha Sharma along with another councillor Punam Grover were disqualified for defying party whip in the mid-term mayoral election held in December 2023. They attracted defection under Section 8 A of the HP Municipal Corporation Act.

An enquiry conducted by the Deputy Commissioner on a complaint filed by the District Congress Committee led to their disqualification.

Both BJP and Congress councillors were eagerly awaiting notification of the poll. Since three posts of councillors are also lying vacant, it was believed that first these posts would be filled by holding elections. The administration has, however, notified the mayoral election prior to the three byelections as the Congress stands to gain.

The Congress is trying to bring about a consensus for the Mayor’s post though the councillors were vertically divided into two groups. The BJP is keenly watching the happenings as they have nothing to lose with the post of Deputy Mayor already being bagged by them in the mid-term polls.

The Congress had won a majority of nine of the 17 seats of councillors during the first-ever elections held in April 2021 after the municipal council was upgraded to a corporation. Punam Grover and Rajiv Kaura were chosen as the first Mayor and Deputy Mayor by the Congress for the first term.

They, however, faced turbulent times when their four councillors led by Sardar Singh grouped with the BJP and unsuccessfully tried to bring a no-confidence motion against them in October 2022. This created a vertical division in the Congress, following which the party faced an embarrassing defeat in the mid-term mayoral elections in December 2023. While the BJP managed to elevate Meera Anand as the Deputy Mayor, the Congress official candidates for both the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor lost the election.

Cong enjoys edge

• As many as 14 councillors will chose the next Mayor
• The Congress has seven councillors but since the local MLA DR Shandil is also permitted to vote, the party has the majority of eight votes
• The BJP has six councillors. It also has the support of an Independent councillor