Constitution Amendment Bill to 'hunt down' non-BJP govts, says Kerala CM

Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday alleged that the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill presented in the Lok Sabha is the ruling party’s new “tactic to hunt down” non-BJP governments in the country.

In a statement here, he said the Sangh Parivar’s new attempt can only be seen as part of the political decision of the Union government to "destabilise" non-BJP governments in the country.

“This is a continuation of the politics of vendetta and trapping of political opponents using central investigative agencies,” the Chief Minister said.

He said there is already a move by the Centre to destabilise state governments by using central agencies as weapons.

“As part of this, the Chief Ministers and Ministers of opposition parties who hold constitutional responsibilities in the country are being targeted,” Vijayan said.

Many chief ministers and ministers who were framed on false charges had been imprisoned in the past. “But the frustration over their refusal to resign was behind the hasty introduction of the 130th Constitutional Amendment, he said.

The BJP is trying a new experiment of ‘neo-fascist’ politics--imprisoning opponents in false cases and then disqualifying them based on these cases, Vijayan charged.

He said the BJP also needs to explain the strange logic behind the idea that those arrested in corruption cases become saints if they switch parties and join the BJP.

According to Vijayan, the new moves to destabilise state governments are a continuation of the Centre’s efforts to take away the constitutional rights of states and establish that Governors have veto power over the legislature.

All sections of people who believe in democracy should raise their voice against the "anti-democratic" moves of the Centre and the Sangh Parivar who target political opponents, the CM said.

Assault on democracy, death knell for federalism: Left parties on bills to remove PM, CMs

New Delhi | Left parties on Wednesday said the new bills that provide for the removal of the prime minister or chief ministers arrested on serious criminal charges are a direct "assault" on democracy and the federal framework, and vowed to oppose it "tooth and nail".

The government introduced three bills in Parliament on Wednesday for the removal of the prime minister, a Union minister, a chief minister or a minister of a state or Union Territory when arrested or detained on serious criminal charges for 30 days in a row.

Flaying the move, CPI(M) general secretary M A Baby said, "Modi Govt's 3 bills to oust PM, CMs, Ministers after 30 days in custody expose its neo-fascist characteristics. This direct assault on our democracy will be opposed by CPIM tooth and nail. We urge all democratic forces to unite against this draconian move."

"These bills, cloaked as tackling crime in high office, reveal their true intent given the RSS-controlled Modi govt's history of undermining elected state govts. With SIR, they mark a blatant move to subvert our democracy. All democratic forces must resist," he said on X.

CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas also called the bills "draconian".

"The new bill by Union Home Minister Shri Amit Shah, purportedly in the name of 'public interest, welfare, and good governance', is, in reality, draconian and designed to destabilize opposition-led state governments while undermining India’s federal structure," Brittas said in a post on X.

"In an era marked by vindictive politics, where central agencies are deployed against opposition leaders, the provisions will be misused for ulterior motives," he said. The CPI(M) leader said the bill’s reference to “constitutional morality” contradicts its spirit, as it deviates from the established principle that disqualification and punishment should be tied to convictions by courts, not merely charges or arrests. "This principle is clearly enshrined in Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act (RPA). In today’s pernicious political climate, where individuals can be easily charged, arrested, and detained for extended periods, this legislation will be weaponised to target political opponents and erode democratic norms," he said.

Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP P Sandosh Kumar said the three bills will open "floodgates of vendetta politics".

“These Bills are a weapon to open the floodgates of vendetta politics. The BJP, which misuses agencies like the ED and CBI against political opponents, will now have a free hand to destabilise elected governments. Any Chief Minister or Minister can be arrested and summarily removed, allowing the ruling party to decide who governs in the States. This destroys federalism and the level playing field in politics,” Kumar said.

CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya said the bills will sound the "death knell" for federalism.

"Viewed together with the ongoing systematic subversion of the electoral system starting with the appointment of Election Commissioners to the relentless push for 'One Nation, One Election' system, this amendment will sound the death knell for federalism and parliamentary democracy in India," Bhattacharya said.

"Every state government opposed to the BJP's politics and policies will henceforth be rendered permanently destabilised and dysfunctional. Every NDA ally will be on tenterhooks to fall in line with the BJP," he said in a statement.

"The weaponisation of central agencies like ED, CBI, I-T, NIA and the abuse of the Constitutional office of Governors in narrow partisan interest, a trend which has been seriously condemned on several occasions even by the Supreme Court, will now gain legal validity with the enactment of this bill," he added.

The three bills - 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, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday amid opposition protests.

Later, the bills were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament.