The Union government plans to introduce three bills in Parliament on Wednesday that would require the resignation, or trigger automatic removal, of a prime minister, Union minister, chief minister or state-level minister who remains in custody for 30 consecutive days on serious criminal charges. Draft texts have not been published, but people familiar with the proposal said the measures aim to prevent leaders who are under arrest from exercising executive authority through intermediaries or ‘proxy rule’. The legislation would apply across the federal and state tiers of government. Reactions split along party lines. Bharatiya Janata Party lawmakers called the initiative a long-overdue safeguard against corruption, citing past instances in which jailed chief ministers continued to exert control. Opposition figures from Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Indian Union Muslim League warned that the bills could be misused for political vendettas, noting what they described as selective enforcement of corruption probes by federal agencies. The government has not indicated when a vote might be held. If enacted, the bills would mark one of the most sweeping attempts in recent years to tighten accountability standards for India’s top elected officials.