Tenure over, no elections yet for Mayors of Dharamsala, Palampur MCs

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, November 16

The state government has failed to hold elections for the posts of Mayor of Dharamsala and Palampur Municipal Corporations. The stint of incumbent Mayors of both the corporations had finished last month.

Congress ready for elections: Ex-mayor

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• Sources said the Congress might dither over holding elections to the post of Dharamsala Mayor as it does not have a majority in the house.
• Former Mayor of Dharamsala, Davinder Jaggi, who is a Congress member in Dharamsala house, said the party was ready for elections. He, however, admitted to infighting within the Congress in Dharamsala MC house.

As per the Municipal Corporation Act of Himachal, the stint of Mayor was two and half years. In Dharamsala the stint of incumbent Mayor Onkar Nehra was over last month. The BJP had a majority in Dharamsala MC having 10 out of 17 members in the house. The present Mayor belonged to the ST category. As per the reservation roster issued by the Himachal government, the next Mayor of Dharamsala MC would a female. The Congress has six members in Dharamsala MC and one independent was also a Congress rebel.

Though the state government has issued a notification for holding fresh elections, sources revealed that no time frame has been stated in the notification for holding elections. As per the Municipal Corporation Act, the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, will hold elections for the post of Mayor in Dharamsala.

Deputy Commissioner Kangra, when asked, said since no time frame had been mentioned in the notification issued by the government for holding the elections for Dharamsala Mayor he would seek a clarification from the government over the issue. The sources said that the Congress might dither over holding elections as it does not have a majority in the house.

Former Mayor of Dharamsala, Davinder Jaggi, who is a Congress member in Dharamsala house, said the party was ready for elections. He, however, admitted to infighting in the Congress in Dharamsala MC house.

Besides, Dharamsala, the elections for the post of Mayor of Palampur MC was also due since last month. Unlike Dharamsala, the Congress has absolute majority in Palampur MC having 13 out of 14 members. As per the reservation roster, the next Mayor of Palampur MC would be from the ST community. Sources said that for a ST community member to become Mayor there should be at least 15 per cent ST population in Dharamsala MC area. However, Palampur MC does not have 15 percent ST population. So, the government might open the seat of Mayor of Palampur MC for general category, the sources said.

The sources said there was a legal lacunae in holding elections for Mayor of Palampur MC. The previous government had issued a notification making Kangra DC a nodal officer for holding elections to the posts of Mayors in the district. However, in the notification the Palampur MC was not mentioned. So the government might have to amend the notification to enable DC to hold elections to the post of Mayor in Palampur MC.

Meanwhile the BJP has flayed the Congress government for not holding elections in MCs of Dharamsala and Palampur. State spokesperson of the BJP Sanjay Sharma alleged that the state government was compromising the local bodies’ freedom by not holding elections for the posts of Mayors in Dharamsala and Palampur.