In a surprising turn of events, Neenu Sharma of the Congress has been elected as the Mayor of the Dharamsala Municipal Corporation in Himachal Pradesh, with Tajendra Kaur of the BJP securing the position of deputy mayor.
The voting for both posts resulted in a tie, with the mayor and the deputy mayor being selected through a lottery system. Each candidate received nine votes. Local MLA Sudhir Sharma also cast his vote.
The election for the mayor's post witnessed a contest between Sharma and Monica Pathania of the BJP, while the contest for deputy mayor's position was between BJP's Tajender Kaur and Congress' Anurag.
The elections were held on Saturday in the Municipal Corporation office auditorium in the presence of presiding officer Additional Deputy Commissioner Rohit Rathore.
After this, Rathore administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly elected mayor and deputy mayor.
This election marked an upset for the BJP in the corporation, where Congress, despite having only five councilors out of the 17-member corporation, managed to capture the leadership positions.
The BJP, which had eight councilors, fell short in the mayoral race, and four independents played a crucial role in determining the outcome.
Before the voting took place, the BJP had claimed the backing of 10 members, including two independent councillors.
Former minister Vipin Singh Parmar was appointed as the BJP's in-charge for Dharamsala, while Congress had appointed Nagrota Bagwan MLA RS Bali as its in-charge for the municipal corporation elections.
Neenu Sharma expressed gratitude to her friends for their 'unwavering' support, emphasising the significance of camaraderie in achieving success.
The outgoing Mayor and Deputy Mayor, Omkar Naihariya and Sarvchand Galotia, respectively, had completed their two-and-a-half-year tenure just one and a half months ago, making way for this unexpected political development in Dharamsala.
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