Bihar CM 'snooping' by installing camera near my residence: Tejashwi Yadav
Patna, Nov 15: RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav Thursday accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of "snooping" by installing a powerful CCTV camera atop a boundary wall of the CM residence near his bungalow.
Leader of opposition in the state assembly, Yadav's 5, Desh Ratna Marg bungalow is just behind Kumar's 7, Circular road, house in Patna.
The official residence of the chief minister is 1, Anney Marg.
Posting a photograph of the CCTV camera on his Twitter handle, Yadav asked, "Why the chief minister felt the need for the camera only on the wall bordering his political adversary."
The chief minister's residence has main roads on three sides and Yadav's bungalow is across the fourth boundary wall.
"Bihar chief minister's residence is surrounded by main roads from three sides and leader of opposition's residence from the fourth side.
"But, the chief minister felt the need for CCTV only on the wall bordering his political adversary's residence. Someone should tell him that these petty tricks will prove futile," Yadav, the younger son of RJD chief Lalu Prasad, tweeted.
In his tweets, he accused Kumar of "snooping and interfering with the privacy of a neighbour and having an obsession with luxury and grandeur besides using invectives like autocratic and insecure".
The ruling JD(U) in Bihar hit back at Yadav, saying he "seems to be worked up over the possibility of his hobnobbing with criminals getting exposed".
Yadav, was allotted the 5, Desh Ratna Marg, residence when he was deputy chief minister in the Grand Alliance government in Bihar.
But, he continues to occupy it despite notices to vacate it in favour of incumbent Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. The Patna High Court has also dismissed Yadav's petition challenging the evacuation notices.
Kumar after stepping down for a brief period after the drubbing in the last general election had been allotted the 7,
Circular Road, house, which is adjacent to the Chief Minister's' official residence 1, Anney Marg.
After returning as chief minister, the JD (U) chief, retained the bungalow on Circular Road.
Reacting to the outbursts of the RJD leader, JD(U) spokesman Sanjay Singh said, "Tejashwi Yadav seems to be worked up over the possibility of his hobnobbing with criminals getting exposed."
"There is no other reason why he should get so agitated over a CCTV camera being installed on a boundary wall. It has not been installed in his bedroom.
"Moreover, he should try to acquire some knowledge so that he could at least come out with his own tweets. He has not even completed high school and we are certain that someone is ghost-writing on his behalf," he said.
There has been no official word on why and upon whose instructions the CCTV camera was installed.
Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, who recently joined the JD(U) and had a meteoric rise with elevation to the post of national vice-president within a month of being inducted to the party, also operates from this bungalow.
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Constitution amendment bill defeat was BJP’s first embarrassment in Parliament: Margaret Alva
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior Congress leader Margaret Alva on Monday said that the constitution amendment bill's defeat in the Lok Sabha on April 17 was the first embarrassment faced by the BJP-led government in Parliament.
She also alleged that the BJP has no real concern regarding women’s reservation.
The opposition INDIA bloc defeated the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill that sought to facilitate the implementation of women's reservation by expanding the strength of the Lok Sabha, apart from making changes to delimitation.
"This is the first embarrassment and defeat faced by the NDA government in the Lok Sabha," the former Governor of Gujarat and Rajasthan said in a press conference here.
According to her, the women’s reservation has been under discussion since the time of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
"During Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure, a 14-member committee was formed, and I was appointed as its chairperson. We prepared a report after studying what needed to be done to enhance the dignity of women across 12 sectors. This was submitted to the government in 1989,” Alva, 84-year-old veteran Congress leader, said.
She said political empowerment for women was emphasised in that report, without which, empowerment in any other sphere is not possible.
“Many people in Parliament used to question me — should we vacate seats for women and stay at home cooking? Why insist on this? Has anyone written these seats in your name? This debate has been ongoing since 1975,” Alva explained.
The Congress leader said Rajiv Gandhi had introduced 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies.
“At that time, all opposition parties united and defeated the Bill,” she pointed out.
Again, during the tenure of former Prime Minister late P V Narasimha Rao, the 33 per cent reservation Bill in local bodies was passed.
“It was the Congress party that first introduced women’s reservation. Now they are falsely accusing us of being anti-women,” Alva charged.
In 2023, the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed with much fanfare, but it was not immediately implemented.
According to her, a condition was imposed for its implementation that it would be enforced based on census data.
"Once it is in the statute book, what is preventing its implementation? Two years for the census and another two years for delimitation — this means it cannot be implemented by 2029. It was not given in 2024, and there is no possibility even in 2029," Alva charged the BJP-led government at the Centre.
The Congress leader said the BJP is saying that the Bill can be implemented based on the 2011 Census, but when the same suggestion was made in 2023, the BJP rejected it.
On increasing the Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent, she sought to know the basis for it.
“Where did this (idea) come from? Whose advice was taken? Was it decided by the RSS? Or ordered by a court?” Alva asked.
The former union minister said the Constitution amendment bill, which was defeated on April 17 appears to favour certain North Indian states.
“We pay taxes, but they receive greater benefits and allocations. If seats are increased by 50 per cent based on their calculations, we would get only 14 additional seats, while they would get 40. How is this fair?” she questioned.
While 298 members voted in support of the bill in Lok Sabha, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the bill required 352 votes for a two-third majority.
According to the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, Lok Sabha seats were to be increased to "operationalise" the women's reservation act before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.
Seats were also to be increased in state and Union territory Assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
