TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre, alleging that the newly introduced bills were aimed at retaining power without accountability.
Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Banerjee said the move to bring in bills providing for the removal of prime ministers, union ministers, and chief ministers arrested on serious charges was nothing more than a diversionary tactic.
Watch Abhishek Banerjee’s full address here:
“These bills are no more than a gimmick as the Centre is 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,” Banerjee said.
Abhishek Banerjee Questions Constitution Amendment Move
Union Home Minister Amit Shah 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 the Lok Sabha.
The bills propose that if the prime minister, union ministers, or chief ministers are arrested and remain in custody for 30 consecutive days for offences carrying a jail term of at least five years, they will automatically lose their post on the 31st day.
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Banerjee, however, said the bills would not pass the constitutional test. “With just 240 MPs, a government on borrowed time is attempting to rewrite the Constitution. Without following procedure, without even placing the bills before members, the BJP is trying to bulldoze democracy with the 130th Constitutional Amendment,” he claimed.
He added that while TMC supports the idea of accountability, the government must also add provisions to penalise investigating officers if leaders are not proven guilty. “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 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,” Banerjee said.
Allegations of Targeting Opposition
Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the real intention behind the bills was to weaken the opposition. “The intention behind moving the bills was to enable the BJP to retain power, money and control over the nation, but without shouldering accountability. 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 claimed.
Amid opposition uproar, the draft bills were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament, comprising 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.
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The TMC leader also accused the government of misusing investigative agencies. “This regime has mastered one thing, weaponising its ‘double e’ machinery. When the Election Commission could not be twisted, they unleashed the Enforcement Directorate, with an ulterior motive to jail opposition leaders, topple elected governments, and steal people’s mandate,” Banerjee alleged.
Citing an example, Abhishek Banerjee said, “Our MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay had to spend six months in jail, but the trumped-up charges against him could not be proved. Who will give back those six months? Who will fix accountability?”
Banerjee further alleged that corruption cases against leaders such as Himanta Biswa Sarma, Suvendu Adhikari, and Ajit Pawar were overlooked once they joined the BJP. “These bills are not about cleansing politics; they are about cleansing the opposition,” he claimed.
Ending his address with a strong message, Banerjee said, “What we have today is a Union government that wants to sell the soul of India, tear apart our Constitution, and hand over our beloved nation to tyrants who want to run it like their private estate. This is a dictatorship. This is a super emergency. But India will not bend, Bengal will not bow. We will fight and we will resist.”
