Shimla, April 27 - Election to the Shimla Municipal Corporation, the only civic corporation in Himachal Pradesh, will be held May 27 and the results will be declared the next day, an official said here Friday.

Nomination papers for the posts of mayor, deputy mayor and councillors can be filed between May 5 and 8, a state government spokesperson told IANS. The votes will be counted May 28.

The election will see direct contests for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor for the first time in three decades.

The 25-member corporation is being run by the Congress for the past 30 years.

However, Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the ruling party in the state, is likely to give the Congress a tough fight along with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

The Congress and the BJP are yet to announce their candidates for the posts of mayor and deputy mayor while the CPI-M has fielded Sanjay Chauhan and Tikender Singh Panwar respectively for the two posts.