Rahul Gandhi Targets Controversial Bill, Says: We Are Going Back to the Medieval Era, When Kings...

He stated that the country is regressing to a "medieval era when kings could remove anyone at their whim."

Addressing an opposition event in the Parliament’s Central Hall to welcome B. Sudarshan Reddy, the opposition’s candidate for Vice President, Rahul Gandhi said, “There is much discussion about the new bill proposed by the BJP. We are going back to the medieval era when a king could remove anyone at will. The concept of an elected representative is being disregarded. If someone doesn’t like your face, they get the ED to file a case, and a democratically elected person is removed within 30 days. Also, let’s not forget why we are electing a new Vice President. Yesterday, I was speaking to someone and said, do you know where the former Vice President went?”

Rahul Gandhi added, “The day the former Vice President resigned, Venugopal ji called me and said, the Vice President is gone. There’s a big story behind his resignation. Some of you may know it, some may not, but there’s a story behind it, and then there’s a story about why he’s in hiding. Why is India’s Vice President in a situation where he cannot utter a single word? Suddenly, the person who used to speak openly in the Rajya Sabha has gone completely silent. This is the time we are living in.”

He further remarked, “There is a battle between those attacking the Constitution and those defending it. Every opposition party has unanimously supported Reddy ji. We must accept that the opposition’s duty is to present an alternative vision, an alternative idea of India. This is a huge responsibility, unlike 10-15 years ago when the system was in place. That system is now gone. We have representatives from every state, language, and culture, and we should be proud of our leadership capacity. We are supporting former Justice Sudarshan Reddy ji, and I am confident he will fight a strong election, and the country will see the message we want to convey.”

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Over the past 11 years, we have seen a gross misuse of parliamentary majority to arm autonomous agencies like the ED, Income Tax, and CBI with harsh powers to target opposition leaders. Now, these new bills are set to become tools in the hands of the ruling party to further weaken and destabilize democratically elected state governments.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav commented on the bill to remove Prime Ministers, Chief Ministers, and Ministers facing serious criminal charges, saying, “This is a new way to blackmail people... This law is being brought solely to intimidate Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu... This is what these people do... Several Chief Ministers have been jailed before but were acquitted, like Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal... This law is being introduced to weaken democracy.”

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury stated, “The ruling party’s intent to pass this bill using its majority is not right. It will be used to target the opposition. This is a cruel act. At a time when questions are being raised about the Election Commission, the ruling party is nervous, and now this issue is being raised to divert attention.”

On the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav said, “The government wants to keep all powers to itself... The way this bill has been introduced shows how nervous the government is and how it wants to consolidate more power in its hands... People now know that this government is entirely against democracy and the Constitution.”

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also attacked the central government and BJP over the 130th Constitution Amendment Bill. She claimed that the bill is a step beyond a ‘super-emergency’ and will permanently end the democratic era in India. She alleged that the Modi government’s bill aims to destroy judicial independence and is an attempt to strengthen a ‘one person, one party, one government’ system.