In the last hours of the Budget Session on Saturday, the West Bengal Assembly passed the Panchayat (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which gives a three-year immunity to panchayat office-bearers from no-confidence motions.
The Bill raises the bar for filing no-confidence motions and effectively locks in around 75,000 office bearers, including village pradhans and district sabhadhipatis.
State Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Pradip Majumdar, who tabled the Bill in the Assembly on Monday, claimed that the amendment prevents misuse of no-confidence motions and ensures administrative stability.
“It will also prevent misuse of the provision for removal of 75,000 odd office bearers… and ensure proper organisational dynamics of Panchayat bodies for their effective functioning,” he said.
Previously, disgruntled members could bring in a motion to oust office-bearers after 30 months.
With the current local bodies having been formed in mid-2023, this amendment effectively freezes the current power structure through the upcoming election season.
However, the Opposition calls the move a “political insurance policy” for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
Leader of Opposition in Assembly Suvendu Adhikari said, “Due to internal factionalism within the TMC in several areas, including Birbhum and Bhangar, many panchayats and district committees have fallen into crisis. To avoid this situation, the TMC government amended the Panchayat Act and introduced a “buffer time” law after only 30 minutes of discussion, solely to save the party’s credibility. Once the BJP government is formed in May, the West Bengal Government’s Panchayat Amendment Bill, 2026, will be scrapped.”
BJP legislator Arup Kumar Das said that the ruling party is simply trying to keep its own house in order. “The real intention behind the amendment was to secure political stability within the ruling Trinamool Congress. Otherwise, the Bill would not have been passed in such a hurried manner.”
“The Bill was a “surprise guest” on the legislative floor, added to the schedule during the final hours of the Budget Session following a closed-door meeting in Speaker Biman Banerjee’s chamber,” said another BJP leader.