Shimla: Too many aspirants in Congress for Mayor, Deputy Mayor posts

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, May 5

The Congress will have a tough time picking candidates for the posts of Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) from among its 24 councillors, who include several three-time and two-time winners.

14 women among 24 councillors

There are 14 women among the 24 Congress councillors. So, the party will be under pressure to offer at least one of the two top posts to a woman councillor.

Three-time councillors Surinder Chauhan (Chotta Shimla), Sushma Kuthiala (Ram Bazaar), Uma Kaushal (Tutikandi) and Kuldeep Thakur (Sangti) are all set to lay their claims to the two top posts while two-time councillors Narinder Thakur (Bhattakuffar) and Simi Nanda (Nabha) are also said to in the race.

“Of course, I am going to try for the two posts. There’s nothing wrong in having ambition when you have proved yourself time and again,” says Sushma Kuthiala, who has logged the third consecutive win from the Ram Bazaar ward. “I have won thrice consecutively from a BJP-dominated ward. The Congress has never got lead in this ward in the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections,” she claims.

Surinder Chauhan, who won the Chotta Shimla ward, is among the frontrunners for the post of Mayor. This was his third win in the SMC elections and his proximity to Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu makes his chances brighter. Sukhu had twice been a councillor from Chotta Shimla and he along with his family came to vote for Chauhan. “I am ready to shoulder any responsibility the party gives me,” he says when asked about whether he was a frontrunner for the mayoral post.

Meanwhile, Simi Nanda from Nabha has also decided to stake her claim to the two posts. “I have won the ward twice and fought a legal battle in connection with the SMC elections for almost a year. Yes, I will stake my claim to the top post,” she says.