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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Mamata Banerjee walks out of NITI Aayog meeting, allowed only 5 minutes to speak
New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee walked out of NITI Aayog's 9th Governing Council meeting on Saturday, July 27, in New Delhi. According to Banerjee, she was allowed to speak for only five minutes, which led to her departure from the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Banerjee expressed her frustration to reporters, stating, "I said the central government should not discriminate against state governments. I wanted to speak but was allowed only five minutes. People before me spoke for 10-20 minutes. I was the only one from the opposition who was participating but still, I was not allowed to speak. This is insulting."
The meeting aims to foster participative governance and collaboration between the Centre and state governments, focusing on making India a developed nation by 2047. The council includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers, with Prime Minister Modi serving as the chairman.
Key themes discussed include access, quality, and efficiency of drinking water, electricity, health care, schooling, and land and property digitization. Recommendations from the 3rd National Conference of chief secretaries held in December last year were also reviewed.
NITI Aayog in 2023 was entrusted with preparing a vision document to help India become a USD 30 trillion economy by 2047. This document must consolidate 10 sectoral thematic visions like economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance into a combined vision for "Viksit Bharat @2047."
