NEW DELHI: Contesting the NCP (SP)'s claim that the Congress did not consult the party on the issue of joining the Parliamentary panel to examine the bills to oust tainted ministers and CMs, sources in the Congress told TNIE that the decision was conveyed to its working president and Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule early this week.
According to a Congress MP, who is a part of the party's Parliamentary strategy group, Supriya Sule responded to him by saying that the NCP (SP) had already nominated a member to the JPC two-three weeks ago.
At a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday, Sule said her party has decided to be part of the JPC on bills proposing the removal of top government functionaries under arrest for 30 days, but it doesn't amount to breaking ranks with the Opposition.
The development came even as the Congress informed Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday that the entire opposition had unanimously decided that it will not be part of the JPC on three Bills that seek the removal of top government functionaries under arrest for 30 consecutive days on serious charges. The government is yet to constitute the 31-member JPC to which the Lok Sabha referred the three bills during the recently concluded Monsoon Session of Parliament.
While a Congress leader said that the NCP (SP) was always kept in the loop about whether or not to join the panel, another leader felt that the Congress leadership should have intervened to convince the Sharad Pawar-led party.
Criticising the NCP's decision, a senior Congress leader said it was after much dilly-dallying that Congress decided to boycott the panel for the sake of Opposition unity ahead of the Bihar election. "Congress felt that it was important to place our views and oppose the draconian bill tooth and nail. However, the TMC went ahead and boycotted the panel, which pressured other parties to follow suit. We also decided to join other parties for the sake of unity," he said.
Another CPI (M) MP pointed out that the TMC started the campaign and other parties were forced to follow suit. "Congress, DMK, and the CPI (M) were of the strong view that the Opposition should nominate members to the JPC and oppose the bill, which is deemed anti-constitutional and undermines the country's federal structure. Boycotting the panel will deprive the public of robust debate and will help the government to bulldoze the bill without any dissenting voices," he said as he added that the TMC, which first made the announcement not to join the panel, took the decision without consulting other parties and forced Samajwadi Party (SP) to follow suit. "Had it not been for the SP, we wouldn't have taken this decision," said the leader.
The TMC, the first party to boycott the panel, had called the panel a "farce." Following this, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and AAP also announced that they will not join the panel, alleging that the purpose of the proposed legislations is to 'bring down' opposition governments.
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 ministers, 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.
Amid vociferous protest by the Opposition, the three bills were introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 20. Tempers flared in the House, copies of the bills were torn and flung, and members of the ruling and opposition alliances came face-to-face when Home Minister Amit Shah moved to introduce the bills.
