New Delhi: From a nondescript revenue village to an urban local body, Siroli Kalan has come a long way, emerging as a political challenge for the ruling BJP in Uttarakhand ahead of the 2027 assembly polls.

Despite its relatively small size, Siroli in Udham Singh Nagar district has sent a larger political message to the ruling BJP -- that administrative reorganisation does not necessarily translate into electoral gains. The ruling party's efforts to weaken its main rival, Congress, in the Kichha municipal area have failed to yield the desired political dividends.

BJP failed to wrest Kichha from Congress in the recent elections to both the urban local bodies. Siroli's demerger from Kichha also yielded little political gains for BJP, despite altering the local equations. Congress retained its hold over both urban local bodies, underscoring BJP's continuing struggle to make inroads into the Opposition party's support base.

Siroli, which has a sizable Muslim population, emerged as a major political challenge for BJP after being brought within Kichha municipality boundaries in late 2018. However, it was only after Congress candidates' victory with a record margin in the 2018 local body polls that BJP woke up to the political implication of the municipality's altered electoral demography.

"After delimitation, Siroli became part of Kichha municipality and subsequently, we participated in the polling held in 2018," recalled NU Khan, a native of Siroli village. Khan said villagers were surprised by the state government's sudden move to notify Siroli as a separate 'Nagar Panchayat' in early 2021. "It was a demotion for our Siroli. We filed a PIL in the Uttarakhand High Court challenging the state government decision," he said.

According to him, the court stayed the government order and allowed Siroli to remain part of Kichha municipality. He claimed that the state government had attempted to restore Siroli's former status as a revenue village during the same period.

While local body polls were held across the state in 2023, Kichha could not go to polls. "Since the reservation process for this seat had not been completed, polls could not be held in Kichha in 2023," recalled Darshan Koli, who was elected as Kichha municipality chairman in 2018 after Siroli's inclusion in Kichha zone. Then, the post of Kichha municipality chairman was reserved for an SC.

"In 2018, I won by the highest margin of more than 12,500 votes in the state. I had maintained a lead of around 5,500 votes in areas falling under the wards of Siroli," Koli recalled.

Finally, the state government found a way out and notified Siroli as a separate municipality in 2025. The government apprised the high court about its decision. Later, the State Election Commission announced September 22 as the poll date for the two urban local bodies. SEC wanted time for the counting of votes, despite completion of the polling process.

"The high court gave three weeks for the counting of votes. We approached the Supreme Court against the high court decision. SC ordered for immediate counting. Finally, votes were counted on October 7. Congress won both the urban local bodies," Congress MLA from Kichha, Tilak Raj Behar, told ET on phone.