The Himachal Pradesh Assembly on Thursday passed a bill that allows the mayors and deputy mayors of municipal corporations in the hill state to serve the full five-year term of the civic bodies.
The Himachal Pradesh Municipal Corporation (2nd Amendment Bill), 2025, which extends their tenure from two-and-a-half years to five, was taken up for discussion and cleared by voice vote. This happened in the absence of opposition members in the House.
BJP MLAs had walked out of the House, protesting the alleged lathi charge on ABVP workers near the Zorawar Stadium in Dharamshala the previous day.
The bill replaces an ordinance issued by the governor just before the two-and-a-half-year term of the mayor and deputy mayor of the Congress-run Shimla Municipal Corporation expired.
The Bill says that if a mayor resigns before completing the full term, or if the post becomes vacant for any reason, the deputy mayor will take charge. A new mayor must then be elected within a month.
On October 25, the state cabinet led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu approved the decision to extend the terms to five years. A cabinet minister later said that the shorter term was causing fear of horse-trading, and that Panchayati Raj institutions already have five-year terms.
The move benefited Shimla Mayor Surender Chauhan, whose term was set to end on November 15. After that, the post was to be reserved for women under the roster system.
A general house meeting of the Shimla Municipal Corporation saw protests, as councillors said the ordinance came too quickly and without proper consultation with them.
BJP councillors staged a protest, and even some Congress councillors voiced their displeasure over changes to the roster.
A PIL was filed in the Himachal Pradesh High Court challenging the cabinet’s decision. The petition argued that the extended term breaks the existing reservation roster, under which a Scheduled Caste woman councillor was supposed to take over for the next two-and-a-half years.
The petitioner pointed out that the Shimla Corporation has 21 women out of 34 councillors, and said the cabinet’s decision has denied women their constitutional rights.
The Assembly also passed the Himachal Pradesh Municipal (2nd Amendment) Bill, 2025, which mandates that all municipalities in the state will be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
Urban Development Minister Vikramaditya Singh said in the statement of objects and reasons that the bill aims to strengthen municipal governance, improve financial accountability and update the law according to current administrative and socio-economic needs.
He added that the measure is meant to bring more transparency, uniformity and credibility to municipal financial management.
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