The newly elected mayor of Bilaspur Puja Vidhani encountered a rather embarrassing moment after a slip of the tongue during her oath ceremony left the attendees in a state of confusion.
While taking the oath on Friday, Vidhani mistakenly used the word “sampradayikta” (communalism) instead of “samprabhuta” (sovereignty). However, she was immediately corrected by the officials, as per PTI.
“Main Bharat ki sampradayikta tatha akhandata akshunn rakhungi (I will uphold communalism and integrity of India),” Vidhani said, prompting the collector to intervene to correct her, though she continued with the oath.
The incident occurred at the Mungeli Naka ground during the oath-taking ceremony, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao and Union Minister Tokhan Sahu. Bilaspur Collector Awnish Kumar Sharan administered oath to Vidhani and 70 corporators.
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Despite the initial confusion, Vidhani continued the oath, but the misstep required her to be sworn in a second time with the correct wording.
Though Vidhani managed to recover from the gaffe, the moment was a stark reminder of the occasional pitfalls of public speeches.
BJP registered landslide victory in Bilaspur mayoral polls
After a few minutes, she had to take the oath for the second time with the correct word. In the recently held urban body elections in the state, the ruling BJP registered a landslide victory.
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It won mayoral posts in all ten municipal corporations. Of the chairperson posts in 49 municipal councils, BJP won 35, Congress eight, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) one, while independent candidates grabbed five.
Similarly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to win the post of chairperson in 81 out of 114 Nagar panchayats.
The Congress party, on the other hand, registered 22 wins, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) one, while independent candidates wrested 10.
Of the total 3,200 posts of ward corporators, BJP won 1,868, Congress 952 and other parties and independents 380.