Bilaspur: Puja Vidhani, the newly elected Mayor of Bilaspur and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), made a surprising slip during her swearing-in ceremony when she mistakenly swore to uphold "communalism" instead of "sovereignty."

The incident took place on Friday, February 28, at the Mungeli Naka ground in Bilaspur, where the event was held. Due to the blunder, Vidhani was required to repeat the oath to correct her mistake. The ceremony was also attended by Chhattisgarh's Deputy Chief Minister Arun Sao and Union Minister Tokhan Sahu.

In a video, which is now going viral on social media, Vidhani can be heard saying, "I, Puja Vidhani, pledge true allegiance and loyalty to the Constitution of India. I will uphold the 'sampradayikta' (communalism) and integrity of India," when she was supposed to say 'samprabhuta' (sovereignty).

The error led to Bilaspur Collector Awnish Kumar Sharan, who was overseeing the ceremony, stepping in to correct the BJP leader.

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Following the ceremony, a ritual with Gangajal was held, and Vidhani offered a prayer before officially taking her seat as mayor. Meanwhile, the Congress party criticized the blunder, calling it "BJP’s drama" and an effort to deceive the public.

Vidhani, a former leader of the opposition in Bilaspur Municipal Corporation, was first elected as a corporator in 1998. She has served twice as the state general secretary of BJP Mahila Morcha and also as the state president of the women's wing.

Her election follows the BJP's decisive victory in the recent urban body polls, where the party claimed 35 out of 49 municipal council chairperson posts. The Congress secured eight, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won one, and independents took five. In the 114 Nagar panchayats, the BJP captured 81 chairperson positions, while Congress won 22, BSP got one, and independents took 10. Out of 3,200 ward corporator seats, the BJP won 1,868, Congress took 952, and other parties and independents grabbed 380.