Opposition including Congress may boycott JPC on bill to sack tainted PM, CMs

Earlier, the Congress, DMK, and the CPI (M) were of the strong view that the Opposition should nominate members to the JPC and oppose the bill.

The committee has been mandated to submit its report in the winter session, which is likely to be convened in the third week of November. (Photo | ANI)

NEW DELHI: The Opposition parties including Congress are likely to boycott the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that will scrutinize the three bills on the removal of the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and Ministers arrested on serious criminal charges for 30 days, according to sources. 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.

The Congress, principal opposition party in the INDIA bloc, after dilly-dallying on its decision to nominate members for the committee, decided to join forces with key allies Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (TMC), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Shiv Sena (UBT), which have already announced their decision not to join the panel, said sources.

The committee has been mandated to submit its report in the winter session, which is likely to be convened in the third week of November.

Reliable sources told TNIE that the Congress decided to jump on the bandwagon for the sake of Opposition unity ahead of the Bihar election and to keep up the momentum that was built on the issue of ‘Vote theft' during the Monsoon session.

Earlier, the 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. According to sources, Congress, DMK, and CPM were of the view that the TMC, which first made the announcement not to join the panel, took the decision without consulting with other parties.   

“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 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,” said a leader aware of the developments.

The TMC had said it would not nominate any member to the JPC and had called the panel a "farce". Following this, the Samajwadi Party, AAP on Sunday announced that it 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 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.

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.