'One nation, one election' not possible under present Constitution: P Chidambaram
Chandigarh, Sep 16: Congress leader P Chidambaram on Monday lashed out at the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre over the 'one nation, one election' issue, saying it is not possible under the present Constitution and requires at least five constitutional amendments.
Replying to a question on reports that the BJP-led NDA government would implement 'one nation, one election' within its current tenure, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not have the numbers to place those constitutional amendments either in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha.
In his Independence Day address last month, the prime minister made a strong pitch for 'one nation, one election', contending that frequent polls were creating hurdles in the country's progress.
Addressing reporters here, Chidambaram said, "'One nation, one election' is not possible under the present Constitution. It requires at least five constitutional amendments."
"Mr Modi does not have the majority to put those constitutional amendments in either in the Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha," the former Union minister said.
He asserted that there were greater constitutional obstacles to 'one nation, one election'. "It is not possible. The INDIA bloc is totally opposed to 'One Nation, One Election."
To a question on PM Modi recently alleging that the Congress wanted to end reservation, Chidambaram rejected the charge. "Why should we abolish reservation?" he asked rhetorically.
"We are the ones who are saying that the reservation ceiling of 50 per cent must be removed. We are the ones who are asking for a caste census. We are saying reservation must be according to the population. Do not believe everything the prime minister says," he told the reporters.
At a rally in Kurukshetra on September 15, Prime Minister Modi had lashed out at the Congress, alleging its "royal family" intended to end reservation for Dalits and asserted that as long as he was there, he would not let even a fraction of reservation given by B R Ambedkar be looted or removed.
At the media interaction here on Monday Chidambaram was asked if the Congress would announce its chief ministerial face for the October 5 Haryana assembly polls. He said that normally, the Congress does not announce a CM candidate before the polls.
"The practice is that elections take place, MLAs gather and their preferences are asked. Then the high command announces who will be the chief minister. I think the same practice will be followed in Haryana," he said.
The senior Congress leader hit out at the BJP government in the state over several issues, including unemployment, agriculture and state debt.
He appealed to the people to vote for the Congress in the Assembly elections and promised that his party would bring back Haryana's growth rate, give a fillip to development, agriculture, and industry, and tackle issues of unemployment and inflation.
"The BJP boasts of a double-engine government. One engine is without fuel and the other is completely broken down. What is the use of such a double-engine government? The time has come to junk the two engines," Chidambaram said.
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Airlines got 999 hoax bomb threats till Nov 14 this year; 256 FIRs filed: Govt
New Delhi, Nov 28: Airlines received 999 hoax bomb threats this year till November 14 and as many as 256 FIRs have been filed while guidelines have been issued by aviation security regulator BCAS for objective assessment of threats, the government said on Thursday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said a total of 1,148 hoax bomb threat messages/calls have been received since August 2022 till November 14, 2024 threatening the operations of international and domestic air travel.
While 999 threats were received by airlines during the period from January to November 14, 2024, the count stood at 122 last year and at 27 for the August-December 2022 period.
"256 FIRs have been filed since January 2024 till 14 November 2024, out of which 163 FIRs have been filed during 14 October- 14 November 2024. 12 arrests have been made in view of hoax bomb threat since January 2024 till 14 November 2024," the minister said.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has issued guidelines for objective assessment of threats. The indicative factor has been useful in reducing time taken by the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC) during the decision-making process.
"Also, to reduce the overall time taken for convening BTAC to less than 5 minutes, virtual assembly of BTAC through pre-generated video link has been set up. Further, advisories for compulsory 10 per cent of secondary ladder point check-in for all flights, strict monitoring of non-scheduled flight operations, enhanced security measures and surveillance at cargo terminals were issued," Mohol said.
Further, the minister said the government is considering amending the Aircraft (Security) Rules, 2023 to put hoax threat messenger in the no-fly list.
"It is also being considered to amend Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation for covering Aircraft in flight as well as on ground, airport etc," he added.
