New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday claimed the Bills proposing the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers under arrest for 30 days on serious charges were a “WMD -- weapon of mass distraction”.
It claimed the Bills were aimed at diverting attention from “vote chori”, a strong Opposition candidate for the vice presidential polls and the problems in the India-US ties.
Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the BJP’s “anti-corruption credentials” were restricted to “operating a washing machine” and alleged the bills introduced by Amit Shah were “unconstitutional and anti-democratic”.
Union Home minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced in the Lok Sabha three Bills for the removal of the prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers under arrest for 30 consecutive days on serious charges, drawing fierce protests from opposition MPs who tore up copies of the draft law and marched close to his seat shouting slogans.
On Shah’s proposal, the Bills were sent by the House to a Joint Committee of Parliament comprising 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha for scrutiny.
The three Bills are the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2025; the Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill 2025; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2025.
The Bills have proposed that if the Prime Minister, union ministers or chief ministers are arrested and detained in custody for 30 consecutive days for offences that attract a jail term of at least five years, they will lose their jobs on the 31st day.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Thursday termed the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill a move to “weaken democracy.”
“The 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, brought by the central government in Parliament yesterday (Wednesday) amidst a huge uproar, clearly appears to be one that weakens democracy in the country’s current political climate,” the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister posted on ‘X’.
“The public fears that ruling parties will mostly misuse it for their own gain, selfishness, and animosity. Therefore, our party does not agree with this Bill at all. It would be appropriate for the government to reconsider it in the interest of the country’s democracy and the Constitution,” she said.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also slammed the government for introducing Bills proposing the removal of prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers under arrest for 30 consecutive days on serious charges, asserting that these are the kind of laws which act like “termites” for the Constitution.
Sibal said it seems the intention of the Bills is to target Opposition ministers and chief ministers and alleged that the government was “destroying” the very fundamental premises of the Constitution.
He, however, asserted that the government will not be able to get the Bills passed as a Constitution Amendment Bill requires a two-thirds majority which the govt does not have.
“Since 2014, we have seen a number of laws which are aimed at snatching human rights given to us by the Constitution. Such laws act as termites for the structure of the Constitution,” the Independent Rajya Sabha MP said at a press conference here.
Sibal said the government was “afraid” and claimed that people are rallying behind Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav with lakhs of people coming to listen to them during their Voter Adhikar Yatra in Bihar.