Shashi Tharoor again at loggerheads with Congress, backs criminal MPs bill
Tharoor contradicted party's stance and said, "If you spend 30 days in jail, can you continue to be a minister? This is a matter of common sense... I don't see anything wrong in this."
PTC News Desk: Shashi Tharoor, who is at loggerheads with the Congress after praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, now differs from party's stance over a bill proposing the forcible removal of senior government members facing criminal charges.
The Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill 2025, tabled in Parliament by Home Minister Amit Shah, proposes that minister, from the Prime Minister down, who has been arrested and jailed for over 30 consecutive days must resign on the 31st or be sacked.
The opposition has launched a scathing attack, criticising the bill with Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra calling it a "draconian" bill. "Tomorrow, you can file any case against a chief minister, have him/her arrested for 30 days without conviction... and he ceases to be a chief minister? It is absolutely anti-constitutional..."
Tharoor contradicted party's stance and said, "If you spend 30 days in jail, can you continue to be a minister? This is a matter of common sense... I don't see anything wrong in this."
Opposition parties fiercely opposed the move, alleging it was designed to destabilise non-BJP governments and hand excessive power to central agencies. They accused the Centre of attempting to remove elected leaders through arbitrary arrests facilitated by “biased” investigative bodies.
The government has referred the Bills to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for further scrutiny.