Shashi Tharoor Breaks Ranks with Congress on Controversial Bill

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor once again diverged from his party’s stance, this time supporting the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirtieth Amendment) Bill, 2025, which proposes the automatic removal of senior government officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Ministers, if detained for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges. The bill, introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha, has sparked intense debate, with the opposition, including Congress, labeling it “draconian” and “anti-constitutional.”

The proposed legislation mandates that any minister, from the Prime Minister down, arrested and jailed for over 30 days on charges carrying a minimum five-year sentence must resign by the 31st day or face automatic removal. While Congress leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have fiercely criticized the bill, warning it could be misused to dislodge elected leaders without conviction, Tharoor took a contrasting view. “If you spend 30 days in jail, can you continue to be a minister? This is a matter of common sense... I don’t see anything wrong in this,” he told NDTV, describing the bill as “reasonable” on its face, though he admitted not having studied its details thoroughly.

Tharoor welcomed the bill’s referral to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for scrutiny, stating, “It is good for our democracy to have a discussion within the committee... let’s have that discussion.” His stance drew sharp reactions on X, with some users accusing him of aligning with the ruling BJP, one even calling his support a “sycophantic genuflection” and a “contravention of constitutional sacrosanctity.” Others urged him to consider the bill’s potential for authoritarian overreach, suggesting he imagine its implications if Congress were in power.

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The Thiruvananthapuram MP’s remarks come amid strained ties with Congress, which have been rocky since 2021 when he joined the G-23 group questioning the Gandhi family’s leadership. Recent positive comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including praise for his “dynamism” and his role in briefing partner nations on Pahalgam and Operation Sindoor, have further fueled tensions. Tharoor, a Congress loyalist for 16 years, downplayed the friction as “differences of opinion with some elements of leadership” in a recent NDTV interview, firmly denying speculation about switching to the BJP. “It is not a sign of my leaping to join the Prime Minister’s party,” he clarified.

The bill, alongside the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2025, faced strong opposition in Parliament, with MPs tearing copies and raising slogans, leading to multiple adjournments. Critics, including Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, argue it undermines democratic principles by allowing the removal of elected officials without conviction, potentially enabling the misuse of agencies like the CBI and ED. AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi called it a step toward a “police state,” violating the principle of presumed innocence.

Tharoor’s public support for the bill, despite acknowledging its need for careful scrutiny, has intensified scrutiny of his relationship with Congress. His earlier absence from a parliamentary discussion on Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla also raised eyebrows, with some interpreting it as a subtle jab at the party. As the bill heads to committee, Tharoor’s stance underscores ongoing ideological divides within Congress and the broader political landscape.

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