BJP does postmortem of defeat in Shimla MC election, says it fought  on the ground 

 BJP which has lost two major elections in the last six months today did a postmortem of its defeat in the Shimla Municipal Corporation election stating that Congress rigged the poll by misusing state machinery in its favor and indulged in shifting votes from the outskirts and other assemblies to the main town, the bastion of  BJP and it could perform miserably in Urban Shimla.

A press release issued by the Former BJP minister Sukhram Chowdhary said that it has performed well in the polls and he extends thanks to all party workers. He said that the party fought the elections with solidarity on the ground.

Party claimed that out of 55662 polled votes, the party got 22535 votes (40.58 pc) in its favor. Party accepted that it could not perform well in the heart of town and if Congress had not been able to garner a large number of votes in Shimla Urban the result could have been different as in the rest two constituencies it performed well. 

The statement said that Congress shifted its votes from the outskirts of the main town as in some places even the outhouses of ministers were locked and they shifted their votes from the assembly segment to polling in Shimla MC.  He said that even in many wards the party performed well and its candidates lost by a small margin.

Party claimed unexpected victory in Congress bastion Bharari in ward no-1 BJP leader claimed that sixty percent vote polled to party and it won by 382 votes. In Kalini ward party lost from Congress by a very thin margin of  8 votes, there are also many wards where the margin of victory is very small. 

Targeting Congress Minster Anirudh Singh BJP said that in the Kasumpti assembly constituency, BJP has won five wards which are New Shimla, Patyog, Upper Dhali, Kasumpti, and Panthaghati.

Party said that Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, his ministers, and CPS tried to rig the election as it did not want to face defeat at any cost after six months since the formation of the state government and all ministers and MLAs shifted their votes bank to Shimla assembly constituency to impact the election in their favor. BJP also stated that the defeat of the party also occurred as Congress misused government machinery to influence the poll and it was the major reason the Congress party gained power in the Municipal Corporation.