SHIMLA: Counting of votes for the 34 wards of the Shimla Municipal Corporation, elections to which were held on Tuesday, started with postal votes at 10 am.
The civic body’s five-year term ended in June 2022 but the elections were delayed by 11 months.
The elections are crucial for both the Congress and the BJP.
The Shimla Municipal Corporation constitutes areas of three assembly segments — Shimla (Urban), Shimla (Rural) and Kusumpti. All three segments are currently represented by Congress MLAs, two of whom are ministers in Sukhu’s cabinet.
In the 2017 elections, the BJP wrested the civic body from the Congress for the first time in 32 years, winning 17 wards. The Congress won 12 wards, the CPI(M) from one and Independents from four.