In a jolt to the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in Himachal Pradesh, Congress managed to clinch Palampur and Solan Municipal Corporations (MC) in the elections held on Wednesday. While, it was a smooth sail for BJP in Mandi municipal corporation, however the party was one seat short for majority in Dharamshala municipal corporation. The victory in Mandi was a saving grace for BJP and also the fact that stakes were high for Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, as it was his home turf. In Mandi, the BJP was able to wrest 11 seats, while Congress won four out of the total 15 seats. BJP managed to get eight seats, Congress five and independent four seats, in Dharamshala that has 17 wards. window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []}; googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot(`/96277396/single-article-ad-new`, [300, 250], `div-gpt-ad-1616332879619-0`).addService(googletag.pubads()); googletag.pubads().enableSingleRequest(); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(`div-gpt-ad-1616332879619-0`); }); Dharamshala municipa corporation was carved in 2015 and was then won by Congress. It was for the second time the municipal corporation elections were held in Dharamshala. Of the 15 seats in Palampur municipal corporation, Congress bagged 11 seats, BJP won only two seats and independents won two. In Solan, Congress swept nine of the 17 seats, BJP seven and one seat was won by an independent candidate. Palampur, Mandi and Solan were recently created municipal corporations and elections were held for the first time. Much to the dissapointment, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) failed to make an opening in these polls, despite having fielded 44 candidates, 14 candidates each in Solan and Mandi, seven in Dharamshala and nine candidat in Palampur. There were total 279 candidates in the fray for the 64 wards in four municipal corporations. Solan and Dharamshala municipal corporations have 17 wards each, while Palampur and Mandi have 15 wards each. In the elections held for the four municipal corporations, BJP bagged 28 seats, Congress 29 and independents seven, out of 64 seats. Elections were held on Wednesday and counting of votes were held immediately after the conclusion of voting.

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