Congress wrests Shimla civic body from BJP, Rahul Gandhi says time for Karnataka to follow suit

As Congress workers celebrated in Shimla, Gandhi took to twitter to congratulate them.

“Many congratulations to all our lion-hearted workers, leaders and members of the state for the big victory of the Congress in the Shimla Municipal Corporation polls. The Himachal Pradesh government has fulfilled the promises given to the people and that is why Shimla has reposed its faith in the Congress. Now, it is the turn of the five guarantees in Karnataka,” Gandhi said.

शिमला के नगर निगम चुनाव में कांग्रेस की बड़ी जीत के लिए प्रदेश के हमारे सभी बब्बर शेर कार्यकर्ताओं, नेताओं, सदस्यों को बहुत बधाई।

हिमाचल सरकार ने लोगों को दी गारंटी पूरी कर वादा निभाया, तभी शिमला ने कांग्रेस पर भरोसा जताया।

अब कर्नाटक में, 5 गारंटी की बारी है। pic.twitter.com/hnonIIVhlh

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 4, 2023

Party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “The historic victory of the Congress is the victory of the party’s policies and its dedication to people. We thank the people of Shimla for this trust…In Karnataka too, the Congress has given guarantees of progress. We appeal to the people of Karnataka to form a Congress government with a big majority,” she said in a tweet in Hindi.

शिमला नगर निगम चुनाव में कांग्रेस पार्टी की ऐतिहासिक जीत कांग्रेस की नीतियों एवं जनता के प्रति समर्पण की जीत है। इस भरोसे के लिए हम शिमला की जनता का धन्यवाद करते हैं।

कड़ी मेहनत करने वाले सभी कांग्रेस कार्यकर्ताओं को मेरी शुभकामनाएं।

कर्नाटका में भी कांग्रेस ने प्रगति की…

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) May 4, 2023

Another Congress general secretary, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said, “The Congress government implemented guarantees in Himachal. Result: Congress wrests Shimla Municipal Corporation….The Congress will implement its 5 guarantees in Karnataka too. Change is here. Congress is here,” he tweeted.

Congress Govt implemented Guarantees in Himachal.

Result:
Congress wrests Shimla Municipal Corporation winning 20 seats & trounces BJP relegating it to 7 seats.

Congress will implement its 5 Guarantees in #Karnataka too

CHANGE IS HERE!
CONGRESS IS HERE! https://t.co/EFjuwCzSkA

— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) May 4, 2023

The Karnataka Assembly polls are scheduled on May 10.

Meanwhile, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said people voted for the Congress polls because of the party’s good governance in the state in the past five months.

“We are here to bring positive change in the system and not to enjoy power. We would work with “Seva Bhav”,” Sukhu said, adding the development of Shimla city would be the top priority.

He said the BJP had postponed the SMC elections for almost 11 months to escape defeat.

The Congress has implemented the old pension scheme for the employees and also gave Rs 1,500 per month to 2.40 lakh women in the age group of 18 to 60 as promised in the party manifesto released ahead of the assembly polls, the chief minister said.

State Congress chief Pratibha Singh, who accompanied Sukhu at the press conference, expressed gratitude to the voters and thanked party workers for toiling hard.”The impressive performance is the beginning of victory for the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” she added.

Former chief minister and leader of opposition Jairam Thakur said he accepts the verdict of the people.

However, he accused the Congress of influencing the SMC polls. Thakur alleged that people living outside Shimla were made to cast votes in the civic polls. This mandate is not purely of the people living in Shimla, he added.

Congress MLAs, ministers and even the chief minister voted in other assembly constituencies in the assembly polls held in November 2022 and now they voted in Shimla Municipal Corporation elections, he alleged. “My vote was also registered in Shimla and we could have also voted in Shimla, but I, along with my family members, through a letter got the names deleted as our votes were registered in my assembly constituency Seraj as well,” Thakur said. We lost three seats from a thin margin of 8, 29 and 34 votes, he said.

The elections were being seen as a litmus test for the BJP, which, in 2017, had wrested the civic body from the Congress for the first time in 32 years, winning 17 wards. The Congress had won 12 wards, the CPI-M one and the rest four were captured by independent candidates.