CHENNAI: Calling the BJP-led Union government's 130th Constitutional Amendment Bill seeking to remove Chief Ministers or Prime Minister undergoing 30-day arrest on criminal charges a "black bill," Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said that it has been moved by a desperate BJP to distract attention from vote theft and fraudulent capture of power.
Stalin also appealed to democratic forces to unite against what he termed as BJP's attempt to turn India into a dictatorship by defiling the Constitution.
Taking to microblogging site 'X' to register his strong condemnation against the bill seeking to "remove an elected Chief Minister without trial or conviction," Chief Minister Stalin said, "The 130th Constitutional Amendment is not reform, this is a Black Day and this is a Black Bill. It is just BJP's diktat.This is how dictatorships begin: Steal votes, silence rivals and crush states. I strongly condemn this Bill, which strikes at the very root of democracy."
"The Union BJP government has decided to defile the Constitution and its democratic foundations by turning India into a dictatorship under the Prime Minister," he added.
Claiming that the very mandate on which the Union BJP government was formed was in serious question after vote theft charges, the DMK president said, "Its legitimacy is doubtful. Having stolen the mandate of the people through fraud, the BJP is now desperate to distract public attention from this expose."
Alleging that the plan of the BJP was to foist false cases against political opponents in power across states and remove them by misusing provisions, pointing out that even a 30-day arrest is being made a ground for removal of an elected leader, without any conviction or trial. Stalin said that the unconstitutional amendment would certainly be struck down by the courts because guilt is decided only after trial.
It is an attempt to intimidate parties in the NDA, the CM said adding that the first move of any emerging dictator was to give himself the power to arrest and remove rivals from office.