Rudrapur, Oct. 9 -- Congress said that signs of change have begun to show in the state after it won the chairman posts in both Kichha and Sirolikalan municipalities in the local body elections, results of which were announced late Wednesday, in Kichha. Congress candidate Rajesh Pratap Singh defeated BJP nominee Sandeep Arora and won by 6,147 votes. In Sirolikalan, Congress candidate Rashida Begum defeated independent candidate Farheen Jahan by 1,773 votes to win the chairman's post. Congress and BJP had made a prestige issue of the Kichha seat's result. The candidates and workers of both parties left no stone unturned to win the election but the result went in favour of Congress. Congress candidate Rajesh Pratap Singh obtained 19,091 votes while his nearest rival BJP's candidate Sandeep Arora received 12,944 votes in the chairman's election. Rashida Begum of Congress captured the chairperson seat from Sirolikalan municipality. She received 5,434 votes while Farheen obtained 3,661 votes. It was the first election of Sirolikalan as it was carved a separate municipality from Kichha municipality in 2024. Last election of Kichha civic body election was held in 2018. Some persons approached high court, Nainital, against separate Sirolikalan municipality leading to withhold civic body elections in 2025. Earlier, polling for both municipalities was held on September 22, and counting was to be conducted on September 24, but the high court directed that polling be held and counting be withheld. The district election officer and district magistrate Nitin Bhadauria sought two weeks' time for counting on the ground of law and order. Alina Malik, who won the member's election from Ward-17 as Congress candidate, had approached the high court for an early counting. On her writ, the court ordered to hold counting within three weeks. She approached the Supreme Court and it stayed the high court's order, directing to hold counting on October 7. Congress is celebrating the Kichha election as a way of victory in 2027 assembly elections. In a post on social media, the former chief minister Harish Rawat has said that the seeds of change in the state have started budding and hope these buds will turn into trees till the 2027 assembly elections. Celebrating victory in both municipalities, the former cabinet minister and local Congress MLA from Kichha Tilak Raj Behar said, "We had fielded both candidates with clean images. We respect the sentiments of Kichha and Sirolikalan's people that show their trust in Congress. It is a sign of change that has begun to show up in the context of the forthcoming 2027 assembly elections". Rajesh Shukla, a former MLA of Kichha and BJP's state spokesperson, said, "Victory and defeat are the beauty of a democracy." He congratulated the winners as well as condemned, saying the malpractices Congress opted to contest in the election are not good for future politics. "We are not disappointed with the defeat and will work more impactfully in the area for the betterment of our people."...