Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday heavily criticised three new bills introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Gandhi, speaking in a black T-shirt as a mark of protest, asserted that these legislations take the country "back to medieval times when the king could just remove anybody at his will".

The contentious bills propose that the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, or any minister could be removed from office if arrested and held in custody for 30 consecutive days on charges carrying a punishment of five years or more. Gandhi suggested that if authorities "didn't like someone's face," they could use agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to arrest them, leading to a "democratically elected person" being "thrown out within 30 days".

The opposition has labelled the legislation "draconian," claiming it could be used by the government to destabilise opposition-ruled states through arbitrary arrests. This government initiative follows past controversies where leaders, such as former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, continued to hold office despite being in jail.