Shimla, Aug. 30 -- The Himachal Pradesh assembly on Friday passed amendments to the Municipal Council and Municipal Corporation Acts, empowering the state government to postpone elections in the newly created local bodies for a period of up to two years despite strong opposition by the main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Opposition legislators registered their protest against the amendment of the Himachal Pradesh Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2025. Voicing opposition to the Bill, the BJP demanded that the government must take back the bill while urging to de-notify the local bodies which as per the saffron party legislators were created as "against public sentiment and protests by the local people". The BJP MLAs in one voice accused the government of running away from elections and violating the constitutional rights of the people Opposing the amendment, BJP MLAs alleged that the state government was trying to defer elections to all urban local bodies in the state under the garb of OBC reservation considering the public sentiment being against Congress regime. Himachal Pradesh Municipal (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was introduced in the House saying that in HP, several new municipalities have recently been constituted to accommodate urban expansion and improve municipal services in urban areas. It is not feasible to conduct immediate elections as these newly formed municipalities lack essential infrastructure such as adequate personnel, office space, and financial resources necessary to effectively conduct elections and manage municipal affairs. Therefore, Section 14 of the Himachal Pradesh Municipal Act, 1994, has been amended to allow the first election to a municipality to be held within two years of its constitution....