As thousands flocked to register their names today to avail the flood relief amount of Rs 10,000 the Telangana state election commission announced that the civic polls in Hyderabad will be held on 1 December, leading BJP to allege that the dates have been decided according to the convenience of ruling TRS.

The state election commission today notified the date of election for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the last date of submitting nomination will be 20 November and the Opposition BJP which considers it has a good chance of winning the board this time is furious because of the short time available for submitting the nominations.

“Telangana State Election Commission is working like a puppet in the hands of CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and TRS government. Election commission is an independent institution and is supposed to function without any external intervention. However, Telangana SEC seems to be running on whims and fancies of KCR and his party TRS. BJP strongly denounces the method of functioning of SEC in Telangana,” tweeted the state BJP spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao who went on to add that the poll dates were “politically convenient” to the TRS and BJP will complain to Central Election Commission.

Meanwhile, thousands thronged to Mee Seva centres to register themselves for availing state’s temporary relief of Rs 10,000 for the flood affected families. After allegations of scams and discrimination as TRS party members distributed the cash amount initially, going door to door. the state government has now asked the people to register themselves at Mee Seva centres to get the financial assistance directly credited to their bank amounts leading to huge crowds and scuffles outside most of the centres. Mee Seva Centres are also allegedly charging Rs 100 to Rs 200 as processing fees.

“Is Shamsabad and Manikonda part of Hyderabad? Remember Hyderabad International Airport~ that Shamshabad. Rains, floods and poor people were there also. Why no flood money was distributed there?” asked former Congress MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy. He wondered whether this was because the areas do not fall under GHMC area where elections are being held and whether flood relief amount was meant to motivate TRS and AIMIM workers.

AP local body polls

Trouble is brewing in Andhra Pradesh between the state election commission (SEC) and the state government over conducting local body elections. While state election commissioner N Ramesh wants to hold the gram panchayat elections in next February after Covid cases dip in numbers CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has ruled it out saying the government was not ready for polls.