Dateline Dehradun: Meera Saklani creates history. The 51-year-old has been elected as Mussoorie’s first woman Chairperson.
67% voters within the Mussoorie municipality have given their verdict. Shrimati Meera Saklani, the BJP candidate bagged the coveted Mussoorie Chairperson seat.
Counting began at Ghananand Inter College early morning. Trends started pouring in by noon. Bjp cadre Meera Saklani, took an early lead and maintained it despite three rounds of recounting late into the evening.
Out of the five women candidates that stood for the Mayor post, the real fight was between three candidates namely BJP’s Meera Saklani, Congress candidate Manju Bhandari and Independent candidate Upma Panwar.
- Results:
- Meera Saklani (BJP):6258
- Upma Panwar (Independent): 5943
- Manju Bhandari (Congress): 2954
- Shakuntala Panwar (Independent): 432
- Nancy Panwar (Independent):532
What makes Mussoorie a hot-seat? Is it the fact that it homes Premier Institutes like the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, the Institute of Technical Management, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Academy. Or is it the fact that many educational institutes, some of which date back to the late 1850’s ensure that VIP and VVIP’s make a beeline to the hill-station throughout the year.
The Chairperson being the first citizen of the town holds an added responsibility of playing the perfect host to all who come visiting.
The proximity of the hill-station to the plains of India and its connectivity by road, rail and air makes it a must-visit for tourists from home as well as abroad, giving Mussoorie an edge over Shimla and Nainital, the other two hill-stations.
Taking the baton forward, Meera, the town’s newly elected Chairperson has the uphill task to bring back lustre to the crown of the Queen of Hills by taking the bull by it horns, as she states, “There will be many responsibilities. But bringing about a change in the working ethos of the municipality is going to be my biggest challenge.”
