Congress to oppose Constitution amendment Bill on dismissal of jailed ministers

Jairam Ramesh said the Congress will oppose the proposed Constitution amendment Bill on dismissal of jailed ministers, calling it politically motivated. He also claimed the BJP would fail to secure the required two-thirds majority to pass the legislation

New Delhi: The Congress on Sunday asserted that it will strongly oppose in Parliament a Constitution amendment Bill which seeks the removal of ministers in custody for 30 days over serious offences, and expressed confidence that the government would not have a two-thirds majority for its passage.

The opposition party’s assertion comes days after sources said a parliamentary panel examining Bills to remove the prime minister, chief ministers and other ministers arrested on criminal charges is likely to adopt its report on the proposed legislations on July 17 and submit it in the Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session.

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If the government wishes, the draft legislations could be approved by the Union Cabinet before being introduced in the Monsoon Session of Parliament, which will begin on July 20.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh claimed that the proposed legislation is aimed at “political harassment” of adversaries.

Ramesh also expressed confidence that Home Minister Amit Shah will not be able to muster a two-thirds majority for getting the Constitution amendment Bill that involves delimitation for providing women’s reservation.

“They will try to bring the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, which we are going to oppose. It is a dangerous Bill that was introduced in August of 2025 and was subsequently referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which most opposition parties boycotted,” Ramesh told PTI Videos.

The Bill states that if a minister is in jail for 30 consecutive days for a criminal offence punishable by more than five years, then on the 31st day, he or she will be dismissed, the Congress leader said.

“This is extraordinary. I mean, court proceedings are still going on. In India, you are presumed innocent until proven guilty. We all know how the probe agencies have been functioning in the (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi-Home Minister Amit Shah regime,” Ramesh said.

Referring to the Bill, he said this is nothing but “political vendetta” and “political vengeance”. “It is to ensure political harassment of your adversaries,” Ramesh added.

“They may try to reintroduce it in this session, during the Monsoon Session… We are going to oppose it, we are going to oppose the delimitation Bill which came during a Special Session on April 16 and the home minister was humiliated beyond measure on April 17 when he got only 298 MPs for the Constitutional amendment on delimitation, whereas he required 352 votes,” Ramesh said.

Since April 17, Shah has been trying to split various political parties, the Congress general secretary alleged. “He split the TMC and the Shiv Sena (UBT). Yes, those splits are a challenge for us. It is a setback for the Shiv Sena (UBT), it is a setback for the TMC, and it is a setback for the opposition. But our unity and solidarity continues,” he said.

“I will say with confidence that Mr Amit Shah and Mr Narendra Modi will not get two-thirds majority if they try to push the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill on the dismissal of ministers, CMs and the delimitation Bill which they lost on April 17,” Ramesh asserted.

The home minister was resoundingly defeated, and his “bluff and the bluster” was completely exposed, he said. The reports of the Joint Committee on the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill are likely to be adopted in the panel’s next meeting on July 17, sources privy to the development said.

The committee is headed by BJP member Aparajita Sarangi. It consulted constitutional experts, retired judges, lawyers and bar association members, government officials and political leaders before completing its task.

Earlier, Sarangi had said there was a unanimous view in the panel’s meetings about the need for decriminalisation of politics. Several opposition parties have stayed away from the committee, contending that the Bills violate the fundamental principle of law of a person being presumed innocent until proven guilty and resort to automatic sacking of the PM, CMs and ministers if they fail to get bail within a month of arrest in serious criminal matters.

The opposition has also alleged that the Bills are aimed at targeting and destabilising states ruled by non-NDA parties. NCP-SP leader Supriya Sule, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and YSRCP leader S Niranjan Reddy are the only opposition members in the 31-member panel dominated by the BJP and its alliance partners.

In August last year, Union minister Amit Shah introduced the three Bills in the Lok Sabha, drawing fierce protests from the opposition. Subsequently, the draft laws were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament.

The Congress last month had alleged that the BJP is striving for a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha as its “real and ultimate target” is to be able to amend the Constitution to end reservation.

Ramesh had claimed that the ruling party first wants to push delimitation in the garb of women’s reservation with the ultimate objective of ending reservation altogether.

On April 17, the Constitution amendment Bill to implement reservation for women in legislatures in 2029, and an increase in the number of seats of the Lok Sabha, was defeated in the Lower House.

While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) suffered another split last month with six of its nine Lok Sabha MPs pledging allegiance to the Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde. Also, 20 rebel TMC MPs have met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and announced their merger with the NCPI, a Tripura-based registered unrecognised political party.