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Another BJP candidate remarks on ‘amending Constitution’

Quoting Tharoor’s tweet, the party’s General Secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, “These are all orchestrated by the MahaSutradhar himself. It is deliberate strategy.”…reports Asian Lite News

A BJP leader’s comments on changing the Constitution has given the opposition ammunition against her party, with senior leaders saying it is part of a “deliberate strategy”.

In an address made at Rajashan’s Nagaur on March 30, BJP’s Jyoti Mirdha is heard saying, Several tough decisions need to be taken in the country’s interest and for that we have to make constitutional amendments. 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.”

Sharing Mirdha’s video on X, the Congress posted from its official handle, “This is BJP candidate Jyoti Mirdha contesting from Nagaur, Rajasthan. Jyoti Mirdha says that to change the Constitution, we need an overwhelming majority in both the houses. BJP MP Anant Hegde has also said that if we get 400 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, we will change the Constitution. It is clear from these statements that BJP and PM Modi hate the Constitution and democracy. By abolishing the Constitution given by Babasaheb, BJP wants to snatch away the rights of the people.”

“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,” Mirdha can be heard saying

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor too reacted to her comments, saying, “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?”

Quoting Tharoor’s tweet, the party’s General Secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said, “These are all orchestrated by the MahaSutradhar himself. It is deliberate strategy.”

Responding to Tharoor, Mirdha said, “As far as I understand, BJP’s aim is to serve the national and public interest as it gets articulated in the democratic discourse. And if for those purposes the constitution needs to be amended then so be it. Most recently the cat was let out of the bag by the 106th constitutional amendment for Women’s Reservation Bill in September last year for which it seems you lent a reluctant helping hand.”

Rashtriya Loktantrik Party chief Hanuman Beniwal, who has been fielded as an INDIA bloc alliance candidate on this seat, said that “the statement makes it clear that the BJP is bent on finishing Babasaheb’s Constitution”.

This is a reversal of roles for Beniwal and Mirdha: In 2019, Beniwal, as BJP’s ally, had defeated Mirdha, who was fielded as a Congress candidate.

Issuing a clarification, Mirdha said that her “general comment aimed at explaining the process of constitutional amendment was unnecessarily blown out of proportion”.

She said that “since 1950 until last year, there have been 106 amendments made to the constitution… It is imperative to say that our sacred constitution is a living document, amended from time to time considering the welfare of the people and the country”.

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Kharge slams Hegde’s remark on Constitution

The Congress President earlier too criticised the BJP MP for his statement…reports Asian Lite News

Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Karnataka, Anantkumar Hegde, has stirred controversy by calling for voters to give a two-thirds majority to his party in the Lok Sabha to enable amendments to the Constitution, with the Congress criticising it widely, asking the ruling party to take action against its MP.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, while addressing a press conference here at party headquarters, hit out at the BJP and said that the ‘ruling party at the center has not fully accepted the Constitution’ which he termed ‘unfortunate’.

“It is unfortunate that the BJP has not fully accepted the Constitution. On one hand, the PM says that the Constitution will never be changed, on the other hand, he asks his people to say that a two-third majority is required to amend the Constitution. This is not said by a normal person or a fringe element, they are leaders and MPs of the BJP. They have been saying this and today again, they again repeated this in Karnataka that the Constitution must be amended,” Kharge said.

He further asked the BJP to expel Hegde if it did not endorse his views.

“If BJP believes in BR Ambedkar it should remove such people from party, not give them poll tickets. If PM Modi has courage, then throw out the leader who has talked about changing the Constitution from the party. On one hand, PM Modi himself remains silent on such things, on the other hand he talks about protecting the Constitution,” Kharge added.

Anantkumar Hegde on Saturday stirred a controversy by calling for voters to give a two-thirds majority to his party in the Lok Sabha to enable amendments to the Constitution and undo the “unnecessary laws introduced to subjugate the Hindu community”.

The Congress President earlier too criticised the BJP MP for his statement.

“BJP MP’s statement that they need 400 seats to rewrite the Constitution, yet again exposes Modi-RSS’ devious agenda to impose dictatorship! Modi Govt, BJP and RSS secretly desire impose Dictatorship, whereby — They will impose their Manuvaadi Mindset on the people of India and snatch away the rights of SCs, STs and OBC’s. — There will be NO Elections, or at the most, just sham elections. — Independence of institutions shall be curtailed. — Freedom of expression shall be bulldozed. — RSS & BJP will destroy our Secular fabric and unity in diversity” the Congress President said in his post on X on Sunday.He further said that such statements by the BJP leaders are ‘a direct assault on the unquestionable ethos of sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic espoused by our Constitution makers’.

“Indian National Congress will not allow these ulterior motives of the Sangh Parivar to succeed. Such repeated calls by the BJP-RSS, from time to time are a direct assault on the unquestionable ethos of Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic espoused by our Constitution makers. Justice, Equality, and Liberty are the strong pillars of the Constitution and any change in these principles would be an insult to the India envisioned by Babasaheb Dr Ambedkar and our revered founders. It is the solemn responsibility of every Indian to protect our Democracy and Constitution” he added.

The BJP, however distanced itself from Hegde’s statement saying that his views on the Constitution are his personal and that the party have sought a response from the Karnataka MP.”MP Ananth Kumar Hegde’s remarks on the Constitution are his personal views and do not reflect the party’s stance. @BJP4India reaffirms our unwavering commitment to uphold the nation’s Constitution and will ask for an explanation from Hegde regarding his comments,” the BJP posted on X just hours after its MP made the comments. (ANI)

Govt neglecting farmers, says ex-BJP MP

After resigning from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Churu Lok Sabha MP Rahul Kaswan on Monday said that the voice of farmers is being neglected in the country and this prompted him to join Congress.

Rahul Kaswan on Monday joined the Congress in Delhi in the presence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra was also present on the occasion.

Addressing the mediapersons, Rahul Kaswan said, “I am grateful to Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi along with Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra and Party’s state incharge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. I am thankful to PM Narendra Modi as I got the chance to work for the people for 10 years. The voice of farmers is being neglected. There are many such issues on which I decided to join the Congress Party.”

Welcoming Rahul Kaswan into the Congress, party President Mallikarjun Kharge urged him to strongly fight for the principles he believes in.

“We welcome him. His inclusion in the party will strengthen us. He also said that for the issues of farmers, he will fight. I believe that he will strongly fight for the principles he and the Congress party believe in,” Kharge said.

The crossover of the Kaswan to the Congress came days after the BJP announced its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.Kaswan had expressed “displeasure” after being denied a ticket for the general elections in 2024.

He said in a post on X, “After all, What was my crime? Was I not honest? Was I not hard-working? Was I not loyal? Was I tainted? Did I leave any stone unturned in getting the work done in Churu Lok Sabha?”

His post added, “I was at the forefront in the implementation of all the schemes of the Prime Minister. What else was needed? Whenever I asked this question, Everyone remained speechless and speechless. No one is able to answer this”. (ANI)

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France Inscribes Right to Abortion in Constitution

France has become the first nation in the world to do so.

With the official inclusion of the right to abortion in its constitution, France has become the first nation in the world to do so. President Emmanuel Macron has pledged that he “will not rest” until women in Europe are afforded the same protections, according to Al Jazeera.

The constitutional amendment that the French Parliament had approved earlier in the week was sealed on Friday by Macron.

While attending the event, which took place on International Women’s Day, Macron declared that he would work to have the right to an abortion included in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

“Today is not the end of the story but the start of a fight,” he said, standing in front of the Ministry of Justice.

“We’re going to lead this fight in our continent, in our Europe, where reactionary forces are attacking women’s rights,” he added.

Although abortion has been legal in France since 1975, Macron promised last year to strengthen protections for the operation after the US Supreme Court struck down the 50-year-old right to procedure in 2022, leaving state-level decisions intact, as per Al Jazeera.

Women celebrated on Monday after a historic vote in both houses of the French Parliament approved the inclusion of abortion as a “guaranteed freedom” under Article 34 of the constitution.

According to CNN, while abortion is a highly divisive issue in US politics that often falls along party lines, in France it is widely supported. Many of the lawmakers who voted against the amendment did so not because they opposed abortion, but because they felt the measure was unnecessary, given the wide support for reproductive rights. (ANI)

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India News

Constitution Amendment Bill likely to be tabled in RS

Union Tribal Affair Minister Arjun Munda will move the Bill further to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 to omit ‘Bhogta’ community from the list of Scheduled Castes…reports Asian Lite News

The Centre is likely to table ‘The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2022’ in the Rajya Sabha.

The Upper House will also discuss the working of tribal affairs ministry and railway ministry.

Union Tribal Affair Minister Arjun Munda will move the Bill further to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 to omit ‘Bhogta’ community from the list of Scheduled Castes in relation to Jharkhand and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 for inclusion of certain communities in the lists of Scheduled Tribes in relation to the State for consideration.

Munda will also move that the Bill be passed.

The Rajya Sabha to hold further discussion on the working of the ministry of tribal affairs raised by Ram Vichar Netam on Tuesday.

The Upper House of Parliament will also hold discussion on the working of the railway ministry.

Union Minister of state for parliamentary affairs V. Muraleedharan to make a statement regarding the government business for the week commencing March 21.

Reports of different department related parliamentary committees will be also tabled in the Rajya Sabha.

Ministers General (Retd) V.K. ASingh, Nityanand Rai, Renuka Singh Sarutu, Annpurna Devi, Bhagwant Khuba, Pratima Bhoumik, Dr Subhas Sarkar, Dr Bhagwat Karad and Dr Manjapara Mehendrabha to lay papers on the table.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Abir Ranjan Biswas said on Tuesday that the representation of Schedule Tribe (ST) people in the government offices is just 6 per cent in the country.

Participating in a debate in the Upper House on the working of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Biswas said that despite the Constitutional guarantee to the ST population, we as a country have failed to accommodate the ST population.

Referring to the Ministry data on villages where ST population is greater than 25 per cent, the Trinamool lawmaker stated that it is shocking to know that only 9 per cent of these villages have a bank, only 24 per cent have a healthcare centre, and only 50 per cent of them have tap water connection.

Noting that ST constitutes 8.6 per cent of the total population of the country, CPI-M member V. Sivadasan demanded that 8.6 per cent of the total Budget allocation should be allotted for STs.

He said the government has allocated only 2.26 per cent of the total expenditure to STs in the Union Budget for 2022-23.

Joining the debate, DMK lawmaker Kanimozhi said that many students from marginalised communities have been compelled to stay out of schools and support their parents in forest-based and local livelihoods during the pandemic.

She asked the government whether it has assessed the situation.

She further said that a National Scheme of Incentive to Girl Child for Secondary Education (NSIGSE), which was started in 2008 to promote the enrolment of SC and ST girls in secondary schools and also to reduce dropouts, has been discontinued.

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