Shimla, June 1 -- A political slugfest erupted between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following the results of the Himachal civic body polls, with the saffron party winning three out of four municipal corporations (MCs)-Solan, Mandi, Dharamshala- and ruling party retaining Palampur. The BJP termed the results a mandate against the government led by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's, while Congress slammed the BJP for trying to project the political mood of the state based on the four civic bodies' elections. "The mandate is clear. The people have rejected Congress and blessed BJP. These results are a strong indication for the 2027 Assembly elections. The message from Himachal Pradesh is clear - Congress is on its way out and BJP is on its way in," said state BJP president Rajeev Bindal. Targeting the Congress, Bindal said Congress leaders who had claimed that the BJP's influence had ended in Mandi should reassess their position. "Similarly in Kangra district, which the Congress claimed was slipping away from BJP, it is the Congress that has lost ground," he added. He further said that BJP's victory in Solan was significant as five ministers, the chief minister and senior Congress leadershad campaigned extensively there. Meanwhile, slamming the Opposition, CM Sukhu said BJP's attempts to portray the results as a mandate against the Congress government were "misleading" and not supported by the actual figures. "The local body elections are often influenced by local issues, personalities and neighbourhood-level factors rather than broader political trends," Sukhu said while talking to media. He noted that councillor elections are distinct from assembly or parliamentary polls andare heavily shaped by individual candidates' local standing. The chief minister said the BJP's victory in the Mandi MC elections is result of a larger influence of its local MLA Anil Sharma, while in Dharamshala, MLA Sudhir Sharma had an impact. He also said thatCongress lost the election in Solan by a very narrow margin. Sukhu further claimed that municipal corporations are confined to a single legislative assembly constituency; therefore, the result of these elections "cannot be considered as the mandate of the entire state". Providing a district-wise overview, Sukhu said Congress performed strongly in several regions, including Kangra, Shimla, Bilaspur and Chamba. He claimed that Congress won all seven urban local body elections in Kangra district, while also registering significantvictories in other parts of the state. He also said Congress-backed candidates received widespread public support in the panchayati raj institutions (PRI) elections, adding that around 2,400 candidates supported by the party had been elected aspradhans and about 2,300 as up-pradhans across the state....