Defends Constitutional Amendment Bill
Kolkata, Aug 22: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill and asserted that jailed ministers cannot hold office.
Addressing a public meeting at Dum Dum Central Jail ground, PM Modi lambasted the INDIA bloc parties, including Trinamool Congress, for opposing the bill and shielding corrupt leaders.
“We decided to bring in a law that will not allow a corrupt chief minister, or even the Prime Minister, to hold office, if he or she spends 30 days in jail. But when we brought in such a law, ‘INDI’ bloc parties like Congress and Trinamool Congress started opposing it. They got angry because they don’t want to be punished for their crimes,” said the Prime Minister.
At the same time, he also took a dig at former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “It is a shame that even a chief minister, after going to jail, has been running the government from there.”
Shifting his focus to Trinamool Congress, PM Modi said even after going to jail, two TMC ministers refused to step down from their posts.
“Two TMC ministers, even after going to jail on corruption charges, were not willing to give up their posts. Cash worth crores was recovered from the house of one such minister. It was in plain sight the kind of corruption they were part of. Yet they want to hold on to their post. Should they be allowed to carry on? Shouldn’t they be put behind bars? Those who are arrested on corruption charges, how can they be part of the government and remain in their posts? Modi will not allow this,” the PM said.
It was an apparent reference to former state education minister Partha Chatterjee, who was arrested in connection with the teachers’ recruitment scam, and Jyoti Priya Mallick, who was arrested in the ration distribution scam.
“For the past 11 years, the country has been waging a determined battle against corruption. In this regard, we have taken a significant step forward by introducing an anti-corruption Bill in the Lok Sabha. Under existing laws, if a government employee is caught and incarcerated without securing bail within 50 hours, they are automatically suspended from their position. But no such provisions exist for a chief minister, a prime minister, or a minister,” he said.
On Wednesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to remove a Central or State Minister who is facing allegations of corruption or serious offences and has been detained for at least 30 days or over an offence that carries a jail term of five years or more, even if not convicted.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a scathing attack against the Trinamool Congress by saying crime and corruption have become the identity of the Mamata Banerjee-led party and asserted that only the BJP can bring ‘asol paribartan’ (real change) in West Bengal.
