Shimla municipal corporation election on May 2. All you need to know

The first municipal elections were held in the city in 1986 when Aadarsh Kumar Sood of the Congress party became the mayor.

Shimla, one of the oldest municipalities in India, will hold civic polls on May 2. According to State Election Commission's data, 93,920 voters are registered to exercise their franchises in the elections. These include 49,759 male and 44,161 female voters at 153 polling booths.

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Congress State president Pratibha Singh and others release the party’s election manifesto for the municipal corporation elections.(PTI)

The first municipal elections were held in the city in 1986 and Aadarsh Kumar Sood of the Congress party became the mayor of the district. The Congress party emerged successful in returning to power in Shimla in the years 1986-2012.

From skywalks to highways and parks to parking lots, the parties contesting for the elections this time, have made lofty promises to the people.

While Congress has promised to introduce policies for a uniform tax regime for both old and merged areas, the BJP has promised to bring in policies such as 40,000 litres of free water to every household a month.

This is the first time that elections to the municipal corporation of Shimla are being held after assembly elections that saw a regime change in Himachal Pradesh.

Here's a look at some key facts about Shimla municipality

Municipality of Shimla came into existence during the British era

The municipality of Shimla came into existence in 1851 during the British era. At that time Shimla was a part of the region of Punjab which is now with Pakistan. At present, the municipal corporation office of Shimla runs in the Town Hall building which was built in the year 1907. Earlier its office used to be on the top floor of the historic Gaiety Theater building.

4 women mayors elected till now

So far four women have held the position of mayor in the municipality. Jaini Prem and Madhu Sood from the Congress party became the mayors of the municipal corporation initially after which Kusum Sadret and Satya Kaundal from the BJP held the positions. However, Madhu Sood went on to join BJP later.

CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was a councillor

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu was elected a councillor of the municipal corporation of Shimla in 1992 and 1997. Apart from Sukhu, current MLA Harish Janartha was also involved in the political activities from the municipal corporation of Shimla.

(With inputs from PTI)