Suspense on mayoral posts in Shimla likely to be over on 14 May
Three-time councilor Surender Chauhan is said to be the front-runner for the post of mayor while women councilors are eyeing deputy mayor’s post.
The high-stake polling for the Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) held on Tuesday witnessed 58.66 per cent of voter turnout for the 34 wards (seats).
The polling was held on party symbols for the 34 wards seats had 102 candidates in fray from Congress, BJP, CPI (M) and AAP. The polling percentage recorded in the Shimla Municipal Corporation elections was 58.66 per cent.
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Of the total 93,920 voters 55,098 cast their vote including 29,335 (58.95 per cent) male and 25,763 (58.34 per cent) female voters.
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Of the 34 wards, about 50 per cent are reserved for women, six for the Scheduled Castes (including three women), while 14 are unreserved.
The polling that commenced at 8.00 am started off on a low key note with inclement weather and rains playing spoilsport.
At 10 am, the polling was 13.17 per cent, which gradually rose to 29.49 per cent by 12.00 noon. However, it picked up pace post noon as the weather got better. The poll percentage that was 43.60 percent at 2.00 pm rose to 58.43 per cent when the polling concluded.
Of the 34 wards in the Shimla civic body, highest polling of 74.93 per cent was registered in Bhattakufar Ward 23, while the lowest voter turnout was in Jakhu Ward 16 which was 42.79 per cent.
Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who had represented Chotta Shimla ward twice as a councilor, cast his vote in the same ward along with his family.
The results for the five-year term municipal body will be declared on 4 May.
The previous 2017 elections that witnessed 57.8 per cent polling in the SMC elections had been won by BJP for the first time in 32 years. By winning 17 wards, the party had made history by wresting power from Congress that won 12 wards while independents won four wards and CPI (M) won a single ward.
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