Chennai, Aug 20 (PTI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday described the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill as a "Black Bill" to foist cases against political opponents in power and remove them.
The chief minister said 30 day arrest meant removal of an elected CM without any trial or conviction by court. However, it was merely a diktat of the BJP. This was how dictatorships begin; "steal votes, silence rivals and crush states."
In a social media post, the CM said: "The 130th Constitutional Amendment is not reform — this is a Black Day and this is a Black Bill. I strongly condemn this Bill, which strikes at the very root of democracy, and I call upon all the democratic forces to unite against this attempt to turn India into a dictatorship.
The Union BJP Government has decided to defile the Constitution and its democratic foundations by turning India into a dictatorship under the Prime Minister."
Further, he alleged that after the "expose of vote theft," the very mandate on which the Union BJP Government was formed is in serious question.
"Its legitimacy is doubtful. Having stolen the mandate of the people through fraud, the BJP is now desperate to distract public attention from this exposé. To do that, they have brought in the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill.
The plan of this Bill is clear. 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," he charged.
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.
This is a sinister attempt to intimidate regional parties in the NDA, whose leaders are CMs or Ministers in various States — "stick with us or else…" Stalin said.
"The first move of any emerging dictator is to give himself the power to arrest and remove rivals from office. That is exactly what this Bill seeks to do," the ruling DMK chief said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday introduced three Bills in Lok Sabha for the removal of prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on serious criminal charges for 30 days, drawing fierce protests from the Opposition.
The draft laws were referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament following strong protest from the opposition.
The three Bills are the 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.