CHENNAI: Lambasting the BJP-led Union government for tabling the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday described it as a "black bill." The Bill provides for the removal of the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and Ministers arrested on serious charges and remaining in custody for 30 straight days. Stalin further said that this day would be remembered as a "black day."
Strongly condemning the Bill, the CM, in his post on X, said the Bill struck at the very root of democracy and called upon all democratic forces to unite against this attempt to turn India into a dictatorship.
Stalin said the plan behind the Bill is clear since it allows the BJP to foist false cases against political opponents in power across states and remove them by misusing provisions that treat even a 30-day arrest as a ground for removal of an elected leader without any conviction or trial.
"This unconstitutional amendment will certainly be struck down by the courts because guilt is decided only after trial, not by the mere registration of a case," the Tamil Nadu CM said.
Stalin also expressed his apprehension that the Bill is a sinister attempt to intimidate regional parties in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), whose leaders are CMs or Ministers in various states, to stick with the NDA or else they would have to face the music.
The CM, who is also the DMK president, pointed out that the first move of any emerging dictator is to give himself the power to arrest and remove rivals from office. "That is exactly what the Bill seeks to do," he added.
Stalin said, according to the Bill, just a 30-day arrest would be sufficient ground for removal of an elected CM without any trial and conviction."This is just the BJP's diktat," he added.
The CM charged that the BJP-led Union government has decided to defile the Constitution and its democratic foundations by turning India into a dictatorship under the Prime Minister.
Accusing the BJP of 'stealing' the mandate of the people through fraud, Stalin said, "Now the BJP is desperate to distract public attention from the 'Vote Theft Expose' since the very mandate on which the BJP government formed became a serious question," he added.