Counting of votes for 34 wards of Shimla Municipal Corporation begins

Shimla: The counting of votes for 34 wards of Shimla Municipal Corporation (SMC) commenced here on Thursday at 10 am. The result is expected to be declared by afternoon, officials said.

Eight tables have been set up at the counting centre located at a Government Senior Secondary School in Chhota Shimla under tight security. The counting would be done in five phases.

Counting of votes polled in ward 1 to 7 would be taken up in the first phase, ward 8 to 14 in second phase, ward 15 to 21 in third phase, ward 22 to 28 in fourth phase, and ward 29 to 34 in the fifth phase, said Shimla Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi, who is also the returning officer.

About 59 per cent polling was recorded in the SMC elections held on Tuesday which was 1.2 per cent more than the 2017 SMC elections. The polls were held on party symbols.

A total of 55,385 voters comprising 29,504 males and 25,881 females exercised their franchise out of the total 93,920 people on electoral rolls on May 2. The number further increased to 55,662 after the inclusion of 277 postal ballots, the DC told The PTI.

The polling was 58.97 per cent -- male 59.29 per cent and female 58.60 per cent on May 2 which finally increased to 59.3 percent after addition of postal ballots. The maximum polling, 74.9 per cent, was recorded in Bhattakufer ward while the lowest, 46.8 per cent, was registered in Panthaghati ward.

A total of 102 contestants are in the fray including nine independents. While both the BJP and Congress have fielded candidates from all 34 wards, AAP and CPI(M) candidates are contesting from 21 and four seats, respectively.

Out of the 34 wards in the civic body's jurisdiction, 50 per cent are reserved for women and six wards are reserved for Scheduled Castes, including three for women. The remaining 14 wards are unreserved.

The civic body's five-year term ended in June 2022 but the elections were delayed by 11 months.

According to the voters, the major election issues are 24x7 water supply, new parking facilities, widening of roads, and curbs on the drug use by youths.

All major parties have promised to make Shimla green and drug-free and solve the traffic congestion by constructing parking lots.

In the 2017 elections, the BJP wrested the civic body from the Congress for the first time in 32 years, winning 17 wards. The Congress won 12 wards, Independents won four, while the CPM registered victory in one ward.