The counting of votes for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation has started. Voting for 150 seats in the GHMC had taken place on 1 December with this year’s elections becoming a high-profile affair. The BJP had deployed its big names including Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath among others to campaign for its candidates.
While Amit Shah promised to end the ‘Nizam culture’ after winning the elections, Adityanath said his party would work towards changing the city’s name from Hyderabad to Bhagyanagar.
According to news agency PTI, the election commission has created 30 counting centres with over 8,000 officials taking part in the process. Three main parties in the fray are Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, the BJP and the ruling party of Telangana, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
LIVE UPDATES on this and other BIG stories of the day will appear below:
18:25 PM: Despite being the single largest party of Bihar, RJD has not been invited for the all-party meeting to discuss the COVID-19 situation. It shows that the meeting is just show-off: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav. (ANI)
17:19 PM: Delhi: CBI arrests BJP councillor Manoj Mehlawat, in an alleged bribery case. He will be shortly produced before the Rouse Avenue Court. (ANI)
17:11 PM: UP Police stops interfaith wedding in Lucknow, saying the couple did not complete legal formalities, days after state govt promulgated a stringent anti-conversion law. (PTI)
16:16 PM: The #SupremeCourt on Friday said that once the Centre has decided to recommend a presidential pardon for a convict on death row, pendency of appeal(s) of the co-accused in the apex court cannot become a ground to delay the process. (IANS)
15:39 PM: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee speaks to various farmers’ groups protesting at Delhi’s Singhu border against Centre’s agriculture reform laws, assures them of TMC’s support: Party leader Derek O’Brien. (PTI)
14:31 PM: India summons Canadian High Commissioner over comments by PM Justin Trudeau and other leaders on farmers’ protest. (PTI)
13:59 PM: Samajwadi Party candidate Lal Bihari Yadav wins Varanasi graduates constituency in state legislative council polls. (ANI)
13:22 PM: HC grants bail to journalist Rajeev Sharma, arrested in espionage case for allegedly leaking sensitive information to Chinese intelligence. (PTI)
12:53 PM: Unable to repay loan, 55-year-old farmer allegedly hangs himself from tree in UP’s Banda: Police. (PTI)
12:01 PM: Supreme Court dismisses PIL seeking its direction for inclusion of govt nominees in Indo Islamic Cultural Foundation trust, set up for building mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)
11:21 AM: Maharashtra: Maha Vikas Aghadi candidate Arun Lad wins Pune graduate constituency seat in State Legislative Council elections, defeats NDA candidate Sangram Deshmukh by over 48,800 votes. ( ANI)
10:19 AM: Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee sends legal notice to actor Kangana Ranaut, seeks unconditional apology for her “derogatory” tweets against farmers and activists involved in protest against Centre’s farm laws. (PTI)
09:52 AM: Single day rise of 36,595 new COVID-19 cases, 540 fatalities pushes India’s virus caseload to 95,71,559 death toll to 1,39,188: Govt. (PTI)
08:01 AM: We are expecting to win over 100 seats. Although many big leaders from BJP came to campaign and made many false claims, I’m happy that people of Hyderabad did not believe in them & reposed their faith in KCR’s leadership: Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha (ANI)
