Government Considers One-Sided JPC as Opposition Boycotts Crucial Bills

As the clock ticks toward a potential constitutional showdown, the government is weighing bold alternatives to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) without major Opposition representation to scrutinize three explosive Bills aimed at automatically ousting jailed high-profile leaders. The contentious legislation—introduced amid chaos on August 20 by Union Home Minister Amit Shah—seeks to bar the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, and ministers from office if detained for 30 straight days on charges carrying at least five years in prison, igniting fierce debates on morality, federalism, and potential misuse.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, alongside the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, were shoved to a JPC by Speaker Om Birla following uproarious protests, with Opposition MPs tearing copies and branding them "unconstitutional draconian traps" designed to topple non-BJP state governments. Shah defended the reforms as a moral imperative, slamming leaders who "shamelessly govern from jail cells," referencing past scandals involving figures like Arvind Kejriwal and V Senthil Balaji.

Yet, two months on, the INDIA bloc remains fractured and unresponsive. Despite repeated reminders to parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Samajwadi Party (SP), nominations are nowhere in sight. TMC has outright boycotted, dismissing the panel as a "farce," while SP echoes the sentiment. Congress, caught in a bind, is mulling a bloc-wide consensus via leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, with chief whip Manickam Tagore admitting deliberations are ongoing. Even the Left, reportedly inclined to join, awaits formal invites amid the impasse.

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Government insiders reveal contingency plans: a scaled-down committee stacked with NDA allies, smaller parties, and Independents—potentially 21 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members—to meet the Winter Session deadline. "Opposition delays force our hand; we've exhausted outreach," a source confided, highlighting the JPC's mandate for a report by November's end.

Veteran parliamentary expert P D T Achary warns this would shatter precedents, eroding legitimacy: "A one-sided panel isn't parliamentary—it's an NDA echo chamber, devoid of credibility without key voices." He urges Speaker Birla to host an all-party huddle for consensus, averting a "tricky, unprecedented" fiasco that could tarnish democratic norms.

This standoff echoes recent JPCs on One Nation One Election (December 2024) and Waqf amendments (August 2024), both inclusive affairs. As tensions simmer, the Bills' fate hangs in balance, with critics like AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi decrying a slide toward a "police state" and Congress' K C Venugopal questioning Shah's own 2010 arrest history. With no TDP response and the INDIA alliance teetering, the government’s next move could redefine parliamentary oversight—or expose deep rifts in India’s polarized politics.

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