TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that the new bills, which provide for the removal of the PM or chief ministers arrested on serious criminal charges, were brought by the BJP-led government at the Centre in a bid to retain power without accountability.

Addressing a press conference in Kolkata, Banerjee claimed that the bills were no more than a "gimmick" as 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".

"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," he said.

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 Lok Sabha.

The bills have proposed that if the prime minister, union ministers or chief ministers are arrested and detained in custody for 30 consecutive days for offences that attract a jail term of at least five years, they will lose their job on the 31st day.

Banerjee said the bills require a two-thirds majority of members in both Houses for their passage as they aim to amend the Constitution, but will never pass the test since the BJP lacks the necessary numbers in Parliament.

"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.

"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 laws were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament, comprising 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha.

Banerjee, the nephew of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleged that the sole aim of the bills was to "finish the opposition" as they were flagging the "misdeeds" of the government.

"The home minister had to sit in the fourth row of the Lok Sabha, being guarded by 12-15 marshals. This speaks volumes of the BJP's 56-inch narrative," he said.

Banerjee, the MP of Diamond Harbour, claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has a success rate of only 0.13 per cent to secure a conviction in the cases it probes.

"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?" he asked.

"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," he alleged.

Banerjee also took on former Union minister Anurag Thakur, stating that "he had made tall claims about bogus voters in my constituency, but when I submitted evidence that they were all genuine voters and only four had died or shifted elsewhere, he has not got back. This is the BJP, which only makes wild claims." Taking a dig, Banerjee said the BJP is a "washing machine" for opposition leaders with "dirt".

"Investigations related to corruption against several leaders were stopped once they joined the BJP. The dirt of Himanta Biswa Sarma, Suvendu Adhikari and Ajit Pawar has been cleaned in this washing machine. If corruption was the concern, why did opposition leaders under investigation get instant reprieve after joining the BJP? These bills are not about cleansing politics; they are about cleansing the opposition," he alleged.

"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," he added. \

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