CONSTITUTION IS...

BJP MANIFESTO...

tional capacity-building for newage industries. We will attract ₹5 lakh crore foreign investment and make Gujarat the Defence and Aviation Manufacturing Hub of India,” he said.

Nadda released the manifesto in the presence of Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel and BJP’S Gujarat incharge CR Patil. “We always do what we say and it is our specialty that we also do what we have not said (in the manifesto). For instance, when did we say that we will build a greenfield airport at Rajkot but we have started work on it. When did we say that the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) will come up in Jamnagar? But we have done it,” said Nadda at the event.

The BJP promised free-of-cost and quality education to all girls from kindergarten to postgraduation and added that it will provide free two-wheelers to the meritorious college-going girls. It has also promised free bus travel to women senior citizens and 100,000 government jobs to women over the next five years.

For the tribals in the state, the BJP has promised to enable mobile delivery of ration across all the 56 Tribal Sub Plan Talukas in the state and to ensure Rs 1 lakh crore under the Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana 2.0 for the all-round socio-economic development of tribals.

The BJP has promised to convert 20,000 government schools into Schools of Excellence in the next five years with a budget of ₹10,000 crore. The party will also launch a Gujarat Olympics Mission and create world-class sports infrastructure with an aim to host the Olympic Games in 2036, the manifesto said.

Reacting to the release of the manifesto, the Congress said it was a “Dhokha (deceit) Patra”.

“The manifesto looks more like a state budget where thousands of crores are allocated for various schemes. After 27 years of rule, the BJP has to offer freebies like free bicycle to lure voters. This is not a ‘Sankalp Patra’ but a ‘Dhokha (deceit) Patra’ where the government hasn’t said anything about inflation or other burning issues like giving justice to the Morbi bridge tragedy victims,” said Congress spokesperson Alok Sharma.

The Gujarat elections are expected to be a three-cornered contest, with the BJP launching a campaign blitzkrieg to retain power, the Congress seeking to gain lost ground and the Aam Aadmi Party looking to make inroads in the state.

In the 2017 elections, the BJP won 99 seats and the Congress came close with 77 seats.

The elections for the 182member assembly will be held in two phases on December 1 and 5. The votes will be counted on December 8. zens’ rights, enemies of humanity carried out the biggest terror attack on India. I pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the attack,” he said.

Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Union law minister Kiren Rijiju and attorney general R Venkataramani, among others, were present at the Supreme Court auditorium during the PM’S address.

Modi highlighted that the Indian Constitution is “youthcentric”, making it important for the judiciary and the government institutions to make endeavours to increase awareness about the Constitution among the youth to inculcate the values like equality and empowerment.

Pointing out that there were as many as 15 women members in the Constituent Assembly who made several important interventions when the draft Constitution was being deliberated upon, the PM said that the youth should know about their contribution. “The faith that this will create in the Constitution will strengthen our democracy, our Constitution and the future of the country,” he stressed.

Imploring the citizens to prioritise duties over rights, Modi said that India is going to get the G20 presidency in a week and this is a very big opportunity. “It is our collective duty to enhance

India’s reputation in the world as Team India, and to take India’s contribution to the world. We have to further strengthen India’s identity as the mother of democracy,” he added.

India will be assuming the G20’s year-long presidency from December 1, 2022, and will convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit for the first time in the country in 2023. The G20 is a forum of the 20 countries (technically 19 countries and the European Union) that meets regularly to discuss the most pressing issues facing the global economy and to secure global financial stability.

In the last seven decades, Modi said, countless people from the legislature, judiciary and executive have contributed to the journey of development and expansion of the Constitution. “I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of them on behalf of the country... Today, on the Constitution Day, we pay homage to those greats who gave us our Constitution and reiterate our commitment to fulfilling their vision for our nation,” he said.

PM Modi also applauded the judiciary for taking steps for providing timely justice. “Even today, I have got the opportunity to launch e-initiatives started by the Supreme Court. I congratulate you all for this beginning, and for the efforts of ease of justice,” he said.

NEW CLIPS...

and head massages in his cell, reading some documents and talking to visitors.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, who shared the video on Twitter, said it showed Kumar visiting Jain inside his jail at 7.52pm on September 12. “The former prison minister is getting a royal treatment. Now the jail superintendent has come to mark his attendance and ensure that there are no lapses is ensuring a royal treatment for him,” Gupta posted on Twitter.

Until his arrest in the ED case, Jain, Delhi’s former health minister, also held the prisons portfolio.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections had become a contest between “10 videos of the BJP and 10 tasks performed by the Kejriwal government”. The people will respond on December 4, he said in an apparent reference to the string of videos featuring Jain.

The MCD elections will be held on December 4 and the results will be declared on December 7. On November 14, Kumar was suspended as Tihar superintendent for circumventing rules and giving special facilities to Jain. Until his suspension, Kumar was the head of Jail 7, where Jain is lodged. Others who assisted Kumar were also suspended, while 28 jail officers were transferred, according to officials.

A Delhi court on Saturday said the AAP minister was prime facie being given “preferential treatment” inside Tihar jail in violation of rules, which has now been stopped. Special judge Vikas Dhull made the observation while dismissing Jain’s plea, which sought direction to Tihar officials to provide him special food items according to his religious beliefs.

Delhi BJP leader Parvesh Verma again demanded Jain’s expulsion from the party and as a minister. “This is the first time in the history of the country that a sitting minister has been in jail for six months; the court has rejected the bail but he has not still resigned from the post. The video shows Jain is running a ‘chaupaal’ in his cell, meeting with the jail superintendent and his so called “therapist” who later turned out to be a rapist,” Verma said.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video. Jain has filed a petition in a court, accusing ED of leaking CCTV footage and requesting the court to direct the agency to stop leaking videos of his stay in the prison.

The latest video shows Jain in his cell with at least three other people before the now-suspended superintendent walks in and sits on a chair next to his bed.

Tihar’s former law officer, Sunil Gupta, who worked in the jail for over three decades, said: “The gates of the jail are locked after 6.30pm. Prisoners cannot step out after that time.”

Last month, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) sought a report from Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar regarding allegations that Jain was availing “special treatment” inside the jail in connivance with jail authorities. The MHA sought the report after ED informed a Delhi court that Jain was living a “luxurious lifestyle” with facilities such as massages, fruits and salads as well as meeting his family members and witnesses of the case in which he has been arrested.

ED arrested Jain in May under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The central agency’s probe is based on a 2017 case of CBI in which the AAP leader and his wife Poonam Jain are accused of amassing disproportionate assets worth ₹1.47 crore between February 2015 and May 2017.

Jain has denied the allegations, and the AAP has described the CBI and ED action as “political vendetta”.

Last week, a video was circulated on social media in which Jain was seen getting a massage from an inmate in his cell inside Tihar, sparking a sharp offensive from the BJP.

While deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said it was part of Jain’s physiotherapy required after surgery, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the video showed that Jain was being treated as a VIP. “Why is this massage being provided to the prisoner? Why is Jain not in the jail uniform meant for prisoners? The video shows four people in Jain’s cell. Why are so many people being allowed in the cell? The chief minister should answer this,” he said.

The AAP has denied Jain was getting a massage and also said that it was pressure therapy provided to Jain on a doctor’s recommendation. “The BJP leaked the tape, is weaving a false narrative and is making fun of the man. Jain is in jail for 6 months. While in jail, he slipped and was injured in the spine. Due to this spine injury, he has undergone two surgeries and while discharging him, the doctors had recommended that physiotherapy should be provided,” Sisodia said last week.

The BJP later said the man seen in the video was a jail inmate accused of raping a minor.

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