A week after the election of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor of the Solan Municipal Corporation (MC), the Urban Development Department is yet to notify the results in the state gazette. In the absence of the notification, the duo were unable to assume the charge of their posts. The tenure of the last municipal corporation had ended on April 21 and a fresh election was announced. The civic body’s working has been hindered for the past over two-and-a-half months as the state government has been delaying the poll process.

Though the election was held on May 17, the results were declared after a fortnight on May 31 while the Mayoral election concluded on July 2. BJP state general secretary Sanjeev Katwal flayed the state government for the delay in the issuance of the notification and said that the people of Solan were bearing the brunt of the Congress government’s administrative negligence. “Even after the completion of the electoral process on July 2 , the MC has not been formally constituted, which has hit development works.”

He added that unnecessary delay in the notification of the Mayor and the Deputy Mayor had dashed the hopes of the residents who were facing problems in securing essential certificates. The upkeep of the civic amenities like timely waste collection and regulated water distribution had been severally affected as councillors were unable to perform their duties.

The Solan MC has been virtually inactive since mid-April. The government is only talking about alternative arrangements but on the ground, public works are being affected. Katwal alleged that the Congress government’s administrative apathy and delay in decision-making had hampered development in Solan city. He demanded immediate issuance of the notification for completing the democratic process so that the elected representatives could assume their duties.