BJP’s Shehzad Poonawalla Defends 138th Constitutional Amendment Bill, Calls It Step Toward Clean Politics

By A Staff Reporter

Delhi: BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Monday strongly defended the 138th Constitutional Amendment bill, recently introduced in Parliament by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, describing it as a crucial measure to ensure accountability and transparency in politics.

Speaking at a press conference, Poonawalla said the proposed legislation was designed to combat corruption and criminalisation in public life. “To remove the real disturbance in Indian politics, PM Modi’s BJP government has introduced the 138th Constitutional Amendment bill in Parliament. To explain it in layman’s terms, this bill is a weapon or tool to fight against corruption and criminalisation in politics,” he said.

He explained that under the bill, any individual holding an executive post — including the Prime Minister, Chief Ministers, or Central and State Ministers — would lose their position if arrested on serious criminal charges and held in custody for more than 30 days without relief. “This shows that the law is on the side of fairness and clean politics,” Poonawalla remarked.

Criticising opposition reactions, he added, “The unfortunate part is that some opposition leaders are opposing this bill, which shows they are not in favour of clean politics. They seem more interested in holding on to power than ensuring accountability.”