BJP councillors protests against extension of Shimla mayor, deputy mayor's term

Shimla, Oct 30 (PTI) The monthly general house meeting of the Shimla Municipal Corporation was rocked by BJP councillors' protest against the extension of the mayor and deputy mayor's terms by the Himachal Pradesh government.

They demanded that the election of mayor and deputy mayor be held according to the roster introduced by the government in 2016. According to the roster, while the term of the civic body is for five years, the mayor and deputy mayor will be in office for two-and-a-half years.

Several Congress Councillors also expressed unhappiness over the state government's decision and demanded that the roster should not be changed.

BJP councillors raised slogans against the state government and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. They demanded that the election of the mayor and deputy mayor should be conducted during the next meeting.

On the other hand, the Congress corporators demanded that, according to the roster, it was women's turn to be elected as the mayor.

The House has 21 women out of 34 councillors; hence, women should be granted a chance to be the Mayor, they said. However, the Congress councillors also made it clear they stand with the state government, chief minister and the mayor, but are against the decision of change in the roster.

Accepting their demands, Mayor Surinder Chauhan said he will send the proposal to the state government for consideration, and the final decision will be taken by the government. PTI COR NSD NSD