Congress slams BJP over its Nagaur candidate Jyoti Mirdha's remarks on 'samvidhanik badlav'
New Delhi, Apr 2: The Congress claimed on Tuesday that after Anantkumar Hegde, another leader of the ruling BJP, Jyoti Mirdha, has openly said that the party's aim is to change the Constitution, while asserting that it is a "deliberate strategy".
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor shared on X a post on an undated video of Mirdha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Rajasthan's Nagaur in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, in which she is purportedly heard talking about the saffron party securing a majority in both Houses of Parliament for constitutional amendments.
"After Anant Hegde let the cat out of the bag, BJP leaders hastily stuffed it back in and dropped him from their candidate list. Now another BJP candidate openly says the BJP's aim is to change the Constitution," Tharoor said on X.
How many more candidates can the BJP disavow for revealing the truth, he asked.
Reacting to Tharoor's post, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X: "These are all orchestrated by the MahaSutradhar himself. It is deliberate strategy."
Congress MP M K Raghavan also shared the video on the microblogging platform and said, "BJP candidate Jyoti Mirdha contesting from Nagaur, Rajasthan was speaking about how the BJP plans to change the Constitution."
"BJP MP Anant Hegde had also said that BJP will change the Constitution if they get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections," he said.
In the video, Mirdha is heard saying, "Desh ke heet mein kai kathor nirnay karne padhte hain. Unke liye humein samvidhanik badlav karne padhte hain. Agar samvidhan ke andar humein koi badlav karna hota hai toh aap mein se kai log jaante hain uske liye dono jo humare sadan hain, Lok Sabha aur Rajya Sabha, unke andar haami chahiye hoti hai (Several tough decisions need to be taken in the country's interest. We have to make constitutional amendments for them. If we have to make amendments in the Constitution, many of you would know that we need the nod of both Houses of Parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha)."
"Lok Sabha mein aaj BJP aur NDA ke pas prachand bahumat hai, us mein koi kami nahi hai, lekin Rajya Sabha mein aaj bhi humari majority nahi hai. Agar is baar teesri baar NDA ki sarkar aati hai.... (In the Lok Sabha, the BJP and the NDA have a massive mandate, but we still do not have a majority in the Rajya Sabha. If the NDA government returns to power for a third time...)," she purportedly said.
Mirdha's remarks came days after the BJP axed former Union minister Hegde, a six-term Lok Sabha member from Uttara Kannada, from its list of parliamentary poll candidates this time.
At a gathering at Karwar in Karnataka, Hegde had said the BJP needs a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and "set right the distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress".
After Anant Hegde let the cat out of the bag, BJP leaders hastily stuffed it back in and dropped him from their candidate list. Now another BJP candidate openly says the BJP’s aim is to change the Constitution. How many more candidates can the BJP disavow for revealing the truth… https://t.co/iHYQWWk0mD
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 2, 2024
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
