Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has accused sections of the media of misrepresenting his comments on the Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025.

The bill, introduced by Union home minister Amit Shah, proposes that any minister, including the Prime Minister, who has been arrested and jailed for more than 30 consecutive days must resign on the 31st day or face removal.

In a post on X, Tharoor clarified his position. "What I actually said vs what the media reported! I specifically stated (& this was before the Opposition had taken a stand on the Bill) that I had not studied the bill but that on the face of it I could see nothing wrong with the proposition that wrongdoers should resign their ministerial positions. I added that I was neither supporting nor opposing the bill without studying it. I see the media has done their usual thing."

This came after reports framed the Congress MP’s remarks as another instance of him drifting from the party line.

One report called he was “at a crossroads in his relationship with the Congress” and suggested he had “differed from the party line again Wednesday.”

Tharoor said his words were taken out of context.

"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 with this," the former diplomat turned MP said in a televised interview.

He also welcomed wider scrutiny of the proposal: "I think it is good for our democracy to have a discussion within the committee... so let's have that discussion."

Meanwhile, Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor supported the bill.

"This bill has been introduced because, when the Constitution was drafted, the people who created it and the country's founders may not have anticipated that those in power would become so corrupt and criminal that they would have to go to jail. Moreover, they would not relinquish their positions even after imprisonment. I believe the bill is good because if a leader is accused and sent to jail, they cannot continue running the government from jail," Kishor said.

The Congress has opposed the bill, with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra calling it "a draconian bill." She warned that it could be misused to topple elected governments.

The Lok Sabha on Wednesday descended into uproar after Congress leader K.C. Venugopal and Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav tore up copies of the three bills