BJP Leading In Shimla Civic Body Polls
Candidates supported by the BJP are leading in the 34-member house of the Shimla Municipal Corporation by winning six of the 13 declared seats in the first two-and-a-half hours of vote count on Saturday.
The Congress-supported candidates have been trailing closely by winning four seats. Two seats were won by independents, while one by the CPI-M. Nearly 58 per cent of over 91,000 electors exercised their franchise in the voting held on Friday.
Tibetans in exile also exercised their franchise in the elections to the oldest municipal corporation in the country after Chennai and Kolkata.
The main contest is between the ruling Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party, which is trying to get at the helm for the first time. However, the candidates did not contest on party symbols. The BJP has supported 34 candidates, the Congress 27 and the CPI-M 22 candidates. The Communists are supporting six independents. The Shimla civic body had been ruled by the Congress for 26 years in a row till the last elections. In 2012, the CPI-M won the Mayor and Deputy Mayor posts as also election for one councillor's seat. It thus ruled the Shimla Municipal Corporation with only three members in the 25-seat house -- the majority of the councillors were from the BJP.
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A woman was killed and four other civilians were injured in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district as the Pakistan army intensified artillery fire across the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir, officials said, adding that a large number of houses have also been damaged in the cross-border shelling.
Reports state that a Pakistani shell struck the vehicle the woman was traveling in, resulting in her death. The woman was identified as Nargis Bashir, and some of her family members had boarded a vehicle to flee from the Razarwani village in Uri that was hit by the mortar and artillery shells from Pakistan.
In an attempt to educate and make people aware about the consequences of war amid Pakistan's continuous firing in the border states, the Delhi government did a mock drill to test air raid sirens installed at the Public Works Department (PWD) at ITO and asked people to not react out of panic.
District Magistrate (Central) G. Sudhakar also urged people to remain calm and not be alarmed when they hear the sirens.
At least twice, sirens sounded during the drill, which started at 3 pm.
PWD Minister Parvesh Verma said 40-50 more such sirens will be installed across the national capital, each of which will cover an area of 8 km.
Residents present in Rajouri along the Line of Control have started moving to safer areas after heavy cross-border shelling and attempted drone and missile attacks last night by Pakistan. All drone and missile attacks were intercepted and foiled by India's air defence system.
#WATCH | J&K | Residents of Rajouri living along the LOC have started moving to safer areas after heavy cross-border shelling and attempted drone and missile attacks last night by Pakistan.
— ANI (@ANI) May 9, 2025
All drone and missile attacks were intercepted by India's air defence system and foiled,… pic.twitter.com/XITK0CsejT
Pakistan has claimed that its Economic Affairs Division account on social media has been hacked and called the post where it appealed for more loans from the international community owing to losses from Operation Sindoor "fake."
In a post on X, Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Fact Checker shared a picture of the post and mentioned that it was "fake." Additionally, it asserted that the account had undergone hacking.
A missile-like object is found deep inside the Dal Lake after loud explosions were heard on Saturday morning in Srinagar, which is a major tourist attraction. The defense ministry also confirms that Pakistan has intruded into Srinagar's airspace in a press release.
Since the early hours of Saturday morning (10th May), Srinagar has been rocked with multiple explosions, and now electricity is taken off in various places across Kashmir. The reason for this is yet to be determined, as reports indicate multiple places in Kashmir have lost power. The Indian Army released a statement after the press briefing, where they mentioned that they have attacked and neutralized multiple terrorist launchpads in a coordinated fire assault, razing them to cinders.