Shimla, July 3 -- Sushma Sharma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was elected mayor, while BJP-supported independent Gaurav Rajput was elected deputy mayor of the Solan Municipal Corporation (MC) on Thursday. All 17 newly elected councillors along with Solan MLA Dhani Ram Shandil participated in the voting exercise. Sharma, a councillor elected for the fourth consecutive term, received 11 votes, whereas Meenakshi, supported by the Congress, managed to bag only seven votes. For the post of deputy mayor, BJP-backed Gaurav Rajput (independent) received 11 votes, while Congress candidate Narendra Kumar got only seven. Rajput had contested the election as an independent after being denied a BJP ticket. Six Congress councillors had won seats in the election, and the party received one additional vote from the local MLA. Following the victory, the BJP held a victory procession in the city. Elections for 51 urban local bodies in Himachal Pradesh were held on May 17 and the results were declared on May 31. In Solan, the BJP won 10 seats, the Congress six, while one independent emerged victorious. The elections for Solan mayor and deputy mayor were deferred on June 29 after six Congress councillors stayed away from the meeting, resulting in a lack of quorum. After the elections, BJP state president Rajeev Bindal alleged, "The Congress attempted to win through unfair means. An effort was made to unseat two BJP councillors through intimidation and by issuing them notices." Recently, Congress councillors accused two BJP councillors of facilitating encroachment of public land by their relatives, following which the administration had marked an inquiry. Former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur termed the BJP's victory a triumph for democracy and public trust....