Shimla — With the two-and-a-half-year term of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of the Shimla Municipal Corporation ending on November 15, political activity has intensified in the civic body. Women councillors from both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP have begun demanding that the next mayoral position be reserved for women, citing their majority representation in the House.
Out of the 34 councillors in the Shimla Municipal Corporation, 21 are women. BJP councillors advised the Congress-led state government to “respect women councillors” and ensure that a woman is given the mayoral post for the next two-and-a-half years. “If the Congress government tries to take away this right from women through roster changes, it will be strongly opposed,” BJP councillors said. The demand for women’s leadership has also found support within Congress.
Earlier in 2023, women councillors from the party, who formed a historic majority in the 2023 municipal elections, had urged party leadership to prioritise women for top posts in the corporation. They had pointed out that this was the first time more than 20 women had been elected to the House and that women’s participation in decision-making should increase accordingly.
Despite these appeals, the Congress leadership had appointed Surendra Chauhan, a close aide of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, as Mayor, while senior councillor Uma Kaushal was made Deputy Mayor. With their terms now coming to an end, discussions within the Congress have again turned toward roster revisions and the possibility of women taking charge.
Sources indicate that the issue may come up in the next Cabinet meeting, where changes to the roster could be considered. These changes will determine whether the mayoral post is reserved for women or whether the current leadership continues without re-election.
Currently, Congress holds a strong majority in the Municipal Corporation House with 24 councillors, while the BJP has nine and the CPI(M) one. There is no direct contest with the BJP for these posts, but the main question remains: which Congress councillors will be given leadership positions in the next term?
Suppose the post of Mayor is reserved for women. In that case, three Congress councillors — current Deputy Mayor Uma Kaushal, Simi Nanda from Nabha, and Sushma Kuthiala from Ram Bazaar — are being discussed as potential contenders. In case the post is reserved for a Scheduled Caste woman, Simi Nanda would likely be the only eligible candidate.
As November 15 approaches, the debate over women’s representation has once again brought attention to gender equality in Shimla’s civic leadership. Women councillors across party lines are now pressing for what they call their “turn” to lead the Municipal Corporation.
