Shimla Municipal Corporation elections heated up, BJP demands woman face

October 17, 2025

Politics has heated up in Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh, regarding the Municipal Corporation Mayor and Deputy Mayor elections. With the two-and-a-half-year terms of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor ending on November 15th, several Congress councilors have become active. Meanwhile, the BJP has also stepped forward in this matter. The BJP argues that women councilors should be given the mayoral position for the next two and a half years.

Currently, women councilors hold 21 out of 34 positions in the Municipal Corporation House. Due to the higher number of women councilors, women councilors should now receive preference for the mayoral position. BJP councilor Saroj Thakur said that the Congress government should respect women councilors. She said that a change in the roster is now necessary to ensure women have the opportunity to hold the mayoral position.

The Congress government could revise the roster and take away this right from women, but this will be opposed. She added that the mayoral position has not been reserved for Scheduled Caste women for 12 years. Therefore, according to the rules, this category should now be given the opportunity.

The women councilors of the Congress, who secured a majority in the municipal elections held in 2023, have already advocated for women to be given important positions in the municipal corporation before party leader Priyanka Gandhi. They said that for the first time, more than 20 women councillors have been elected to the House. In such a situation, women should be given preference for higher positions.

Although at that time the Congress appointed the most experienced woman councillor, Uma Kaushal, as the deputy mayor, but Surendra Chauhan, a close aide of the Chief Minister, was appointed to the post of mayor. Now, on November 15, the full two and a half year term of the mayor and deputy mayor is completing.