RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav has criticised a set of bills to sack ministers in the federal or any state or union territory government - including the Prime Minister and Chief Minister - if they have been jailed (not necessarily convicted) of 'serious criminal charges' for 30 consecutive days.
Mr Yadav accused the ruling BJP of trying to 'blackmail' and 'torture' the chief ministers of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, i.e., Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, without whose combined support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government cannot prove a Lok Sabha majority.
He claimed the motive was to keep allies, including Mr Kumar and Mr Naidu, on a tight leash. The bill, he said, was a message, particularly before the Bihar election this year - toe the line or be arrested in money laundering cases registered by the Enforcement Directorate and be stripped of power.
"They are bringing this for Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. It (the bill) has only job... to blackmail. If PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) cases are slapped by Enforcement Directorate... there can be no quick bail. These are torture tactics," he told reporters.
"Instead of building the country, they are distorting it," Mr Yadav raged, echoing remarks by other senior opposition leaders, including the Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
#WATCH | On the bill for the removal of the PM, CMs, and ministers held on serious criminal charges, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav says, "They are bringing this for Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu. They have only one job - to blackmail. If PMLA is slapped in ED cases, there can be… pic.twitter.com/tLCGm79lW7
— ANI (@ANI) August 21, 2025
The Trinamool's Abhishek Banerjee pointed out the ED's poor conviction rate in cases involving allegations against opposition political leaders, a topic red-flagged by the Supreme Court.
In March the government admitted - as the ED was grilling RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad Yadav - that decadal conviction rate for cases against politicians is 1 per cent.
The controversial bills - a set of three, one each for the federal and state governments, and a third for Jammu and Kashmir - were presented in the Lok Sabha Wednesday, where they were cleared amid disorder and chaos that included torn copies flung at the Home Minister.
READ | Opposition Shreds Bill To Sack Arrested Ministers, Throws It At Amit Shah
The bills will be presented by Mr Shah in the Rajya Sabha this afternoon, after which they will be sent to a joint parliamentary committee for further consideration.
Incensed opposition leaders have said the bills will allow the BJP - which they have repeatedly claimed controls federal investigative agencies like the ED - to target and remove chief ministers of states not ruled by it or its allies, causing a government collapse and an opportunity to take over.
Opposition MPs have pointed to AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal as a red flag.
Last year Mr Kejriwal - who led the Aam Aadmi Party to successive wins over the BJP in Delhi elections - was arrested and jailed for over five months, without a trial, before the Supreme Court granted bail. If this bill had been in effect then, he would have been sacked a month after his arrest.
READ | "Remember Kejriwal": Opposition Slams Centre Over 'PM Removal' Bill
He eventually resigned on his own, after appointing a successor, in September.
"I see it as a completely draconian thing... to call it an 'anti-corruption measure' is to pull a veil across the eyes of the people. Tomorrow, you can file any case against a chief minister, have him/her arrested for 30 days without conviction... and he ceases to be a chief minister?" Priyanka Gandhi Vadra warned.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, accused the BJP of trying to pull India back into "medieval times".
READ | 'Back To Medieval Times': Rahul Gandhi On Bill To Sack Arrested Ministers
"We are going back to medieval times... when a king could remove anybody at will. There is no concept of what an elected person is. If the king (referring to the PM) doesn't like your face, he tells the ED to file a case. Then a democratically elected person is wiped out within 30 days," he said.
The BJP has insisted the bill only ensures a fair and functional government for all.
READ | "Governments Can't Be Run From Jail": Amit Shah On 'Criminal Ministers' Bill
"The purpose of the bill is that a government cannot be run from jail... It is unjust to the expectations with which the public elects their representatives," Amit Shah said.
With input from agencies
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