Kolkata, India – The political storm over the 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill intensified on Friday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the legislation during a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rally in West Bengal, drawing sharp rebuttals from the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Introduced in the Lok Sabha earlier this week despite fierce opposition, the bill has been branded by critics as a tool for the federal government to sideline elected state administrations. The TMC has led protests, warning that the amendment would allow New Delhi to bypass courts and dissolve opposition-ruled governments at will.
Addressing BJP supporters at Dum Dum Central Jail grounds near Kolkata, Modi sought to justify the bill by invoking recent corruption scandals involving TMC ministers. Without naming them, he referred to the arrests of former state education minister Partha Chatterjee and food minister Jyotipriya Mallick, both jailed on graft charges.
“Government employees lose their jobs if they spend more than 50 hours in jail. Why then should a chief minister, a minister, or even a prime minister continue to run a government from prison?” Modi asked, echoing remarks he made earlier in Bihar. “One minister was caught in the teachers’ recruitment scam, with piles of cash found in his house. Another looted rations meant for the poor. Yet both refused to resign, showing contempt for the people and the Constitution,” he said.
The TMC fired back, accusing Modi of hypocrisy. “The prime minister is throwing stones from a glass house,” senior minister Shashi Panja said. “He points fingers at others while ignoring serious charges against his own party leaders.” Panja alleged that 94 of the BJP’s 240 MPs face criminal cases, including 63 involving serious charges.
The TMC also accused the BJP of political opportunism, noting that corruption allegations against several leaders disappeared once they switched sides and joined the saffron camp. “The same leaders Modi once denounced are now his own,” Panja added.
For the TMC, the amendment bill represents not reform but an assault on India’s federal structure. And as both parties exchange accusations of graft, the looming battle over corruption and power has become a key flashpoint ahead of the 2026 West Bengal elections.
