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'Modi refused exception for PM': Kiren Rijiju on bills for removal of ministers
Rijiju revealed that PM Modi told the Cabinet that it has been recommended that the prime minister be kept out of these bills.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday revealed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi refused an exemption for himself as the government framed the bills regarding the removal of PM, CM and ministers if they are jailed for serious offences.
Rijiju said that PM Modi told the Cabinet that it has been recommended that the prime minister be kept out of the ambit of the bills, but he added that he does not agree with the recommendation.
“PM Modi told the cabinet that the recommendation is to keep the prime minister out of this bill, but he did not agree. PM Modi refused to give an exception to the prime minister. The PM is also a citizen, and he should not have special protection,” Rijiju told ANI.
"Most of the CMs are from our party. If they do something wrong, they have to leave their position. Ethics should also mean something. The Opposition would have welcomed this bill had they kept ethics at the centre..." he added.
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The three bills – the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill and The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill – propose that a sitting minister, chief minister or even the Prime Minister can lose their position within a month if they are arrested or detained for 30 consecutive days over an offence that carries a jail term of five years or more.
The bills were introduced by Amit Shah amid a storm of Opposition protests and sloganeering that even saw the draft legislation torn up and pieces of paper flung at the Union home minister. The bills were later introduced after a voice vote and sent to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC).
The Opposition leaders have called the proposed amendments in the bills as "draconian" and "unconstitutional" and alleged that they would be used to target the chief ministers in opposition-ruled states at the behest of central agencies.
