NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday said that it will not nominate any members to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which scrutinises the three Bills that seek to remove the prime minister, chief ministers, and ministers who were arrested on serious charges and detained for 30 consecutive days.
After tabling the Bill in both Houses of Parliament this week, the contentious bills have been sent to a JPC comprising 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha for further scrutiny.
However, the other partners of the Opposition INDIA bloc were not fully on board with TMC on not sending nominations to the panel.
Speaking to TNIE, a senior Congress leader said that the party will deliberate with other Opposition members and take a final call on the matter soon. “We were waiting for a final decision from TMC. Now, we will discuss with other parties on this,” he said.
He added that a majority view in the meetings of the INDIA bloc is that the Opposition should nominate members to the JPC and oppose the bill, which is anti-constitutional and undermines the federal structure of the country.
“Though the TMC wanted the opposition to boycott the JPC, there was a dominant view that the government would bulldoze the bill without any dissenting voices. It is important to place our views and oppose the draconian bill tooth and nail,” said the leader.
He added that most parties, including DMK, SP, RJD, and Shiv Sena (UBT), believed they should have representatives in the panel to oppose the ‘authoritarian’ bill. While Congress may nominate at least four members, the leader expressed apprehension that the ruling NDA will fill the TMC slots as well.
In a statement, the Mamata Banerjee-led party said it has decided not to send members as the JPC is a farce. “We oppose the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill at the stage of introduction, and in our view, the JPC is a farce. Therefore, we are not nominating anyone from AITC”, said the statement.
According to sources, RSP MP N K Premachandran, citing the SC hearing on the Waqf Bill, argued in the meeting that the dissent notes of the Opposition are significant as the Supreme Court has taken cognizance of their views during its hearing. “If the Opposition boycotts the JPC, the government will have smooth sailing. The Supreme Court has taken cognizance of the dissent notes on the Waqf Bill JPC and others,” said Premachandran.
The constitutional amendment bill will require the support of at least two-thirds of the members in both houses. The ruling alliance currently lacks such a majority on its own.
The Bills --- the Constitution (One Hundred And Thirtieth Amendment) Bill 2025, Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2025; and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill 2025-- have proposed that if prime minister, chief ministers and union ministers are arrested and detained in custody for 30 consecutive days for offences that attract a jail term of at least five years, they will lose their jobs on the 31st day.
