Calcutta: Mamata Banerjee on Thursday defended a planned Bengal Lokayukta amendment that seeks to keep the chief minister out of the ombudsman's purview in matters of "public order", saying her "credibility is pledged to the people".

"My credibility is pledged to the people and I do not have to take lessons or certificates from a handful of leaders who have a lot to hide themselves. The day I lose my credibility before the people, I will no longer be in politics," she said.

The reply, during a discussion on the West Bengal Lokayukta (Amendment) Bill, 2018, was greeted by table-thumping from the treasury benches. Mamata took less than 12 of the 35 minutes assigned to her to answer the Opposition's questions on her exclusion. The bill seeks to amend the West Bengal Lokayukta Act, 2003, - enacted by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government without exemption for the chief minister.

"I don't have to copy blindly from the past. Provisions for change exist in a democracy. If you don't like it, change it when you have enough majority," said Mamata, adding all MLAs, including herself, came under the scrutiny of the Lokayukta.

Mamata said the Opposition would do well to first find out what "public order" means and contended that it was an "absolute misconception" to argue that she had been kept out of the purview.

"Public order here relates only to police deployment, modernisation of police forces and recruitment of police personnel.... There are 58 (other) things on the State List (of the Constitution), from fisheries to agriculture.... Only because I have the guts, have we kept the 58 other things out of it (the amendment)," she added.

After the rout in the House, the Opposition slammed chief whip Tapas Roy's amendment under which any allegation of "non public order" corruption against the chief minister can be taken up by the Lokayukta with approval from two-thirds of the Assembly.

"Only the ruling party can have two-thirds majority in a House," leader of Opposition, the Congress's Abdul Mannan, said.