BJP Wins Mandi in Municipal Corporation Elections 2021
In four hotly-contested municipal corporation elections, the ruling BJP won Mandi – the territory of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur – on Wednesday and also wrested Dharamshala from sitting Congress.
But Congress dealt a blow to the BJP by beating Solan and Palampur. The BJP lost Solan despite appointing former state party chair Dr. Rajeev Bindal as a caretaker.
Four independents in Dharamshala hold the key to the BJP, but they have wreaked havoc in the field of Congress.
Of these, the BJP’s most shocking defeat is in Palampur, the hometown of BJP leader and former chief minister Shanta Kumar. Here, the BJP could win just two districts out of 15. Congress won 11, while two others are independent.
The elections are important to Prime Minister Thakur, who had to demonstrate his leadership in the run-up to the 2022 Assembly elections.
The BJP is attaching great importance to the party’s victory at Mandi, where the prime minister himself camped and campaigned widely as well as assigning the task of winning the civic body to the most powerful minister in the state, Mahender Singh Thakur, who is also by Mandi.
In Mandi, the BJP won 11 of the 15 districts, while Congress only won 4.
In Solan, Congress won nine of the 17 districts, while the BJP won seven. An Independent was the other winner.
In fact, the Congress that won Solan despite intense fighting, internal disputes and lack of resources is quite remarkable, BJP members admitted. So is the party sweep in Palampur.
In Dharamshala, a hotbed of Kangra politics, the BJP will have its mayor for the first time but with the support of independents. The party has won eight districts and Congress five. Four independents, considered rebels of the BJP, were also elected.
She is a freelance blogger, writer, and speaker, and writes for various entertainment magazines.