130th Constitutional Amendment a 'Black Bill': TN CM

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 the 30-day arrest meant removal of an elected CM without any trial or conviction by a 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.

Tamil Nadu BJP leader K Annamalai hit back at Stalin, saying DMK's opposition to the 130th constitutional amendment was no surprise as corruption was "the only Constitution" followed by the INDI alliance.

Addressing CM Stalin, Annamalai said that nothing was blacker or insulting than having a minister arrested on money laundering charges (under the cash for job scam) retained as a minister without portfolio and dubbed the DMK regime a "shameless government." "Your shameless government reinstated Minister Thiru Senthil Balaji to the same portfolio he previously held after his release from prison. He was later stripped of the ministry following heavy criticism from the Supreme Court. Do you want us to repeat what the Supreme Court said recently about the delay tactics of your shameless government in this ongoing investigation? Another I.N.D.I. Alliance’s corruption crusader, Thiru Arvind Kejriwal, held onto his position as Chief Minister for many months despite being imprisoned on corruption charges." When the Supreme Court struck down the Representation of the People’s Act section 8 (4), the then UPA government, in a hurry, came up with an ordinance to protect their legislators who were to be convicted. The name of the alliance has changed today, but its motto remains the same.

"Your opposition to the 130th constitutional amendment comes as no surprise; Corruption is the only Constitution your alliance truly abides by." 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 protests 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. PTI VGN VGN ROH