MPs jostle, bills torn, papers thrown at Amit Shah in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Tempers flared, copies of bills were torn and flung and members of the ruling and opposition alliances came face-to-face and jostled in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with TMC MPs charging towards Home Minister Amit Shah when he introduced the three draft laws with provisions for the removal of prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on serious criminal charges.

The battlelines were drawn in the Lower House with opposition members already on their feet when the House re-convened at 2 PM, raising slogans against the three bills the government was keen to introduce.

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.

Trouble broke out when Trinamool Congress members tore copies of the bill and threw the bits of paper towards the Home Minister, who was moving a motion to refer the bills to a joint committee of Parliament. In the melee, Trinamool leader Kalyan Banerjee was seen trying to tug at the microphone in front of Shah and shout slogans into it.

Angry BJP members charged towards the opposition MPs who were in the Well with Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu rushing to the aisle and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju moving to stand next to the Home Minister and gesturing to the opposition members to step back.

BJP member Nishikant Dubey was also seen urging some BJP members who had entered the Well to get back in the aisle as opposition members continued to raise slogans and tear copies of the bills.

Earlier, Banerjee entered the Well of the House, raising slogans against the government's move.

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress member Manish Tewari, RSP leader N K Premachandran, Congress member K C Venugopal and SP member Dharmendra Yadav spoke against the introduction of the three bills.

Banerjee and some Trinamool members were seen marching in the U-shaped Well of the House, raising slogans against the government and tearing copies of the bills and throwing bits of paper all around as other opposition members spoke against the introduction of the three bills.

Banerjee was seen rushing next to Premachandran and Venugopal, who were raising objections, and shouting slogans next to the active microphones. Trinamool member Mahua Moitra was also in the Well of the House, raising slogans.

Congress members Jothimani and Praniti Shinde were seen distributing copies of the bills among opposition members, who tore them and flung the fragments of paper.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the proceedings till 3 PM, but the sloganeering by opposition and treasury members continued in the charged atmosphere, prompting three marshals to stand in the Well in front of the Home Minister’s seat to prevent opposition members from approaching further.

Just before the Lok Sabha re-convened at 3 PM, as many as 12 members of the Parliament Security Service, including three women, were seen standing in the aisle next to the treasury benches, drawing loud protests from the opposition.

As soon as the House re-convened, the marshals trooped into the Well to prevent opposition members from coming near the treasury benches, but were soon called back.

The Speaker strongly disapproved of the conduct of the opposition and said their actions had lowered the dignity of the Lok Sabha.

Shah, who walked in soon after the House had re-convened, took a seat in one of the rear rows, instead of his usual front row seat, and completed the formalities of referring the three bills to a joint committee of parliament for closer examination.

As the uproar continued, the Lok Sabha Speaker adjourned the proceedings till 5:00 pm.