Congress' Neenu Sharma elected mayor of Dharamsala Municipal Corporation

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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As many as two trains have been suspended on the UNESCO world heritage Kalka-Shimla track by the railway authorities. The trains have been suspended to carry out the maintenance work on the track.

Talking to The Tribune, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM) Naveen Kumar, Ambala division of the Railways, said, "The recent flashfloods in the state had caused substantial damage to the heritage track at several places. We have got all major repair work done on the track and restored it for plying of trains. But some work is still left as part of maintenance of the track. So, we have suspended these trains."

On being asked as to for how long the services of these trains would remain suspended, Naveen said, "It depends on how much time all these works would take but roughly it would take close to two months. After that, inspection would be done to decide on whether to resume or complete the maintenance work."

Meanwhile, sources said that timing of these trains was crucial when it comes to convenience of passengers or tourists travelling towards Delhi. Discontinuing them for a long time would affect tourism, especially when tourist inflow has seen substantial increase after the recent rain disaster.

"The train service between Kalka and Shimla is not only a cheaper mode of transportation but also attracts a number of tourists as they get to enjoy scenic natural beauty of hill state while travelling. So, the Railways must resume service of these trains as soon as possible or at least change the timings keeping in view the convenience of tourists/passengers," added sources. Before the rain disaster, seven trains were plying on the heritage track.

Railways to carry out repair work

The railway authorities would carry out the maintenance work during 'day-time margins' between the schedule of trains. The maintenance work to be carried out concerns embankments, ballast work on the track, alignment shifting repair, work on blocked drainage system, bridge strengthening and carrying material where required, among other works.