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Business News/ Politics / News/  Stage set for NDA, Opposition face-off over citizenship bill next week
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Stage set for NDA, Opposition face-off over citizenship bill next week

The contentious citizenship amendment bill is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday
  • BJP needs support of at least 123 MPs in the 245-member Rajya Sabha for the bill’s passage
  • Activists protest against the present form of citizenship amendment bill, (Photo: ANI)Premium
    Activists protest against the present form of citizenship amendment bill, (Photo: ANI)

    NEW DELHI : The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, setting the stage for a confrontation between the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Congress-led Opposition.

    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is keen to pass the bill, but it has to reach out to its allies and like-minded parties to have a smooth passage in the Rajya Sabha, where the NDA is in a minority.

    With the Shiv Sena, a long-time ally especially in Maharashtra, joining hands with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), led by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar having reservations about the bill, the BJP has a daunting task at hand.

    “It is an important bill and we will sit with our senior leaders to discuss our stand on it. We have certain reservations about the bill and we will inform the Union government about those. A final decision on the stand of the party will be taken after consultations," said a senior JD(U) leader, requesting anonymity.

    The Congress, on the other hand, will have to deal with new-found ally, the Shiv Sena, which has traditionally been a vehement supporter of the bill. Senior NCP leaders said a meeting with the Congress and Shiv Sena could take place to discuss the stand of the alliance. Both the Congress and NCP are opposed to the bill.

    “A key part of the common minimum programme between the Congress, NCP, and Shiv Sena was that the three alliance partners will discuss all contentious issues before taking a decision on political and administrative matters. It is expected that an informal consultation will take place before the discussion takes place in Parliament," said a senior NCP leader based in Mumbai, also requesting anonymity.

    The NDA is in a minority in the Upper House, but enjoys a mammoth majority in the Lower House. It will need the support of at least 123 members of Parliament (MPs) in the 245-member Rajya Sabha for a smooth passage for the bill. So far, it has the support of 105 MPs.

    Senior BJP leaders are reaching out to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has seven MPs, and the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS), which has six. BJP members are also expected to hold discussions with the YSR Congress Party, or YSRCP, which has two MPs in the Upper House. Senior ministers, however, claim that at least 122 MPs in the Upper House support the bill. However, the NDA will also face opposition from the Bahujan Samaj Party, with chief Mayawati on Thursday saying that the party was “against the current form of the citizenship amendment bill and the government should reconsider aspects of the bill and it should be sent to a parliamentary committee".

    The citizenship amendment bill aims to provide citizenship to those who were forced to seek shelter in India because of religious persecution or fear of persecution in their home countries—primarily Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. This is a drastic shift from the provisions edition of the Citizenship Act of 1955, which labels a person an “illegal immigrant" if he or she has entered India without travel documents, or has overstayed the date specified in the documents. The bill thus amends the 1955 Act to grant exemptions to illegal migrants from these communities, who reached India on or before December 2014.

    Student groups across Mizoram, Assam, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh have been protesting against the bill. Representative bodies who met Union home minister Amit Shah last week had conveyed the reservations of the indigenous north-eastern groups to the minister, said one person familiar with the development, requesting anonymity.

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    Published: 05 Dec 2019, 11:48 PM IST
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