Bilaspur Mayor's Faux Pas At Oath-taking Event, Vows To Uphold 'Communalism' | Watch
The mistake prompted Bilaspur Collector Awnish Kumar Sharan, who administered the oath, to intervene and correct the BJP leader.
Chhattisgarh BJP leader Puja Vidhani, the newly elected Mayor of Bilaspur, made a major blunder at her swearing-in ceremony after she pledged to uphold “communalism" instead of “sovereignty".
Due to the slip of the tongue at the oath event in Bilaspur’s Mungeli Naka ground on Friday, which was attended by Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao and Union Minister Tokhan Sahu, Vidhani had to take the oath twice.
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In a goof-up, she read out, “I, Puja Vidhani, pledge true allegiance and loyalty to the Constitution of India. I will uphold the ‘sampradayikta’ (communalism) and integrity of India." She was supposed to say “samprabhuta".
The mistake prompted Bilaspur Collector Awnish Kumar Sharan, who administered the oath, to intervene and correct the BJP leader.
छत्तीसगढ़ के दूसरे सबसे बड़े शहर बिलासपुर की भाजपा की नवनिर्वाचित महापौर को फिर से शपथ लेनी पड़ी.असल में उन्होंने संप्रभुता को अक्षुण्ण रखने के बजाय सांप्रदायिकता को अक्षुण्ण बनाये रखने की शपथ ले ली थी. pic.twitter.com/CavAVOJYdJ
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After the ceremony, a ritual was conducted with Gangajal and Vidhani performed a prayer before taking her seat as mayor.
Meanwhile, Congress criticised her mistake, labelling it as “BJP’s drama" and an attempt to mislead the public.
Vidhani is a former leader of the opposition in Bilaspur Municipal Corporation, having first been elected as a corporator in 1998. She has served twice as the state general secretary of BJP Mahila Morcha and has also held the position of state president of the women’s wing.
It comes after the state’s ruling BJP secured a landslide victory in the recently-held urban body polls. Of the 49 posts for municipal council chairpersons, the BJP won 35, the Congress eight, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one, while independent candidates grabbed five.
The BJP secured the post of chairperson in 81 out of 114 Nagar panchayats. The Congress won 22, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) claimed one, and independent candidates took 10.
Out of a total of 3,200 ward corporator positions, the BJP won 1,868, the Congress secured 952, while other parties and independents won 380.
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