Kolkata, Aug 20 Trinamool Congress General Secretary and the leader of the party in Lok Sabha, Abhishek Banerjee, on Wednesday severely criticised the BJP-led government at the Centre for introducing the Constitution Amendment bill, saying it was their attempt to retain power without accountability.
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Banerjee claimed the Centre was trying to divert attention from its failure to push through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which has now "met roadblocks at the Supreme Court", by bringing forward the new bill in Parliament.
"The intention behind moving the bills was to enable the BJP to retain power, money and control over the nation, but without shouldering accountability. It is a deadly combination. That's why they will never include the accountability clause we ask for in the bills. The people of India have successfully stopped it from going through," he said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced 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 in Lok Sabha.
The Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, seeks to remove a Central or State Minister who is facing allegations of corruption or serious offences and has been detained for at least 30 days or over an offence that carries a jail term of five years or more, even if not convicted.
"We will be the first to support the bills. In fact, we urge the government to reduce the jail term of ministers from 30 days to 15 days, as proposed. But the government must add the clause that if the persecuted minister is not proven guilty on the 16th day, then the investigating officers of the investigation agency concerned and its top bosses will have to go to jail for double the time they hold the leader in jail in the name of conducting a probe. If they add this clause, then Trinamool will be the first party to support this bill," Banerjee said.
The Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha leader claimed that the bills will never be passed in Parliament as they require a two-thirds majority of members in both Houses for their passage since they aim to amend the Constitution.
Amid uproar from the Opposition, the draft laws were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament, comprising 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee had slammed the Centre for proposing to move forward with the Constitution Amendment bill.
He said on X that such a bill is introduced to target opposition leaders by using central investigation agencies.
"We strongly condemn this authoritarian attitude and oppose the introduction of this DRACONIAN CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL. The Government of India, instead of providing relief to the people and working for the genuine development of farmers, workers and the poor, has completely failed to uphold its duty of safeguarding the sovereignty of the nation," said Banerjee.
Opposing the Centre's move, the Trinamool Congress leader said, "Having failed in its attempt to misuse the EC to implement SIR, the government has now activated another “E” — ED - to bring in laws that target opposition leaders, crush democracy and manipulate the people’s mandate by toppling State Govts."
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