August 21, 2025
NEW DELHI – Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday criticised the introduction of three new bills that provide for the removal of the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and ministers if they remain in custody for 30 days. He said the move would push the country “back to medieval times.”
“We are going back to medieval times when the king could just remove anybody at his will. If he didn’t like someone’s face, he could get the ED to arrest them, and a democratically elected person could be thrown out within 30 days,” the Leader of the Opposition remarked.
Rahul, wearing a black T-shirt as a mark of protest against the bills, added: “There is a war going on between those who are attacking the Constitution and those who are defending it.”
His remarks came hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah tabled three bills — The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025; the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025 — in the Lok Sabha.
The amendments provide a legal framework to remove the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, or ministers who are arrested and remain in custody for 30 consecutive days on charges punishable with imprisonment of five years or more. Such removal will take effect on the 31st day.
According to the provisions, the President will effect the removal of the Prime Minister or Union ministers, the Governor in the case of Chief Ministers, the Chief Minister for state ministers, and the Lieutenant Governor in the case of a Union Territory Chief Minister.
However, the Opposition has strongly opposed the bills, describing them as “draconian” and an attempt to topple non-BJP governments.
Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bills violate the basic structure of the Constitution. “The Constitution of India and the rule of law say that you are innocent until proven guilty. This has enormous potential for misuse of state power and is destructive of Article 21 of the Constitution,” he stated.
RJD MP Manoj Jha echoed similar concerns, calling the bills an attempt to impose “Opposition-free democracy.”
“There is an important, clear distinction in law between the accused and the convicted. That distinction has now ended. They are turning their concept of Opposition-free democracy into reality. I alert Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, and others in their party — perhaps they want to target someone against them too,” Jha said.
The protest in Parliament escalated when some Opposition MPs tore copies of the bills and hurled them towards Home Minister Amit Shah. Amid the uproar, Shah proposed referring the bills to a Joint Committee of Parliament.
The motion was adopted, and the bills were referred to a Joint Committee comprising 21 members of the Lok Sabha (to be appointed by the Speaker) and 10 members of the Rajya Sabha (to be nominated by the Deputy Chairman).