Shimla, Aug. 29 – The Himachal Pradesh Assembly witnessed sharp exchanges on Thursday as the Opposition BJP accused the Congress government of deliberately stalling urban local body (ULB) elections by amending the Municipal Act. The Himachal Pradesh Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2025, introduced by Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh, allows deferment of polls in newly created ULBs for up to two years, citing lack of infrastructure such as staff, office space and financial resources.
The Bill was passed by voice vote amid loud protests from Opposition benches. Speaker Kuldeep Pathania put the amendment to vote, where it was approved despite strong resistance from BJP legislators, many of whom demanded that the newly notified ULBs be scrapped altogether.
Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur charged the government with violating constitutional norms. “It is shocking that the state government created three municipal corporations, three Nagar Parishads and 17 Nagar Panchayats against public sentiment,” Thakur said. “In the first place, these should be de-notified as they were created on irrational considerations. If you are rigid and adamant on your decision then why are you running away from holding elections?”
BJP MLAs Randhir Sharma, Satpal Singh Satti, Rakesh Jamwal, ID Lakhanpal, Trilok Jamwal, Hans Raj, Inder Gandhi, Daleep Thakur and Ashish Sharma also raised objections. Satti alleged that the government, facing “growing public anger” against the Congress regime, is preparing ground to postpone all civic elections under the pretext of OBC reservation.
Defending the Bill, Panchayati Raj Minister Anirudh Singh said deferment was necessary to strengthen new bodies before elections are held. He pointed to rapid urbanisation in the state, noting that the urban population rose to 9.16 lakh in 2024, a 60 percent increase since 2012. “There is an urgent need to regulate haphazard construction activity. Similar deferments have been done in Haryana, Assam and Maharashtra. There is no constitutional violation here,” he told the House.
On the issue of OBC reservation, Singh said the last survey conducted in 2010 covered only rural areas, leaving urban regions uncounted. “We do not want injustice with the OBCs, so a fresh survey is underway,” he added.
Despite the government’s justification, BJP members maintained that the amendment will not withstand legal scrutiny. The Opposition staged a protest inside the Assembly after the Bill was cleared.
