Citizenship bill to be tabled in Lok Sabha on Dec 9

With the government all set to introduce the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday, the Opposition is gearing up to challenge the ruling BJP-led NDA on the floor of the House by opposing its tabling as well as moving amendments to the proposed “anti-Constitution” legislation.

Opposition parties like Congress, Trinamool Congress, CPM, Muslim League and RSP will oppose the bill at the introduction stage itself besides submitting amendments to the proposed bill, which they describe as setting “multiple standards for citizenship in a single country”.

The bill, which had found its space in BJP’s 2019 election manifesto, aims to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution.

The Opposition has questioned the premises of the bill saying it is granting citizenship on the basis of religion, which it claims violates the basic structure of Constitution.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday chaired the Parliament Strategy Group meeting to finalise the contours of its arguments against the CAB, with members from West Bengal and the North-East to lead its attack in the LS.

Describing the bill as “not only unconstitutional but also anti-Constitution”, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said his party MPs will be moving two amendments to the bill to remove the mention of religion besides replacing the names of three countries with “all neighbouring countries”.

“Religions cannot be the basis of citizenship. The bill avoids mention of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees staying in Tamil Nadu. There is a need to remove such anomalies,” he said.

A senior Trinamool Congress leader said his party will be opposing the introduction of the bill and will be moving amendments. Similarly, Opposition MPs like Muslim League’s P K Kunjalikutty and RSP’s N K Premachandran will also be moving amendments and opposing the introduction of the bill on the ground that the country cannot discriminate on the grounds of religion.

The bill has triggered widespread protests in the north-east where a large section of organisations claim that the fixing of December 31, 2014, for the beneficiaries will nullify the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of illegal immigrants irrespective of religion.

Though the BJP is comfortably poised to win in both the Houses of Parliament, sources said the Opposition wants to set the narrative against the government.

They would be opposing BJP’s moves to de-hyphenate the bill and the controversial National Citizens Register (NRC) while insisting that the bill is a “diversionary tactics” to ensure that the issues like slowdown and jobless are not highlighted.

The BJP has issued a whip to all its MPs to be present in the Lok Sabha between December 9 and 11 while the TMC has asked its MPs to be present between Monday and Thursday. Other parties have also issued similar communique to their MPs.