'Undermines democracy': Stalin criticises Centre over 130th Constitution Amendment bill

Chennai, Aug 20 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-led Central government over the introduction of the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha, warning that the legislation, if passed, would undermine democracy and empower the Centre to arbitrarily unseat opposition Chief Ministers.

In a post on X, Stalin accused the BJP government of attempting to “defile” the Constitution and described the proposed amendment as a “Black Day” in Indian democracy.

“The 130th Constitutional Amendment is not reform. This is a Black Day and this is a Black Bill. Thirty-day arrest equals removal of an elected CM. No trial, no conviction – just BJP’s diktat. This is how dictatorships begin: Steal votes, silence rivals and crush states,” he wrote.

The Chief Minister alleged that the move was a diversionary tactic by the BJP, which is facing allegations of “vote theft.” He claimed that after being accused of forming the government through fraudulent means, the party is desperate to divert public attention.

“Having stolen the mandate of the people through fraud, the BJP is now desperate to distract public attention from this expose. To do that, they have brought in the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill,” Stalin said.

Expressing confidence that the judiciary would intervene, Stalin said the bill would not withstand judicial scrutiny.

“This unconstitutional amendment will certainly be struck down by the courts because guilt is decided only after trial, not by mere registration of a case,” he asserted. He further charged that the proposed amendment is aimed at intimidating regional allies within the NDA.

“This is a sinister attempt to intimidate regional parties in the NDA, whose leaders are CMs or Ministers in various States – ‘stick with us or else.’ The first move of any emerging dictator is to give himself the power to arrest and remove rivals from office. That is exactly what this Bill seeks to do,” Stalin added.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, along with the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament.

The amendment proposes that the Prime Minister or Chief Ministers detained for 30 consecutive days on charges of corruption or serious offences could be removed from office.

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