Citizenship Amendment Bill exposes political faultlines

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has exposed the political faultlines with NDA allies like the JD(U) and the AIADMK shedding their opposition to the controversial legislation, the Shiv Sena refusing to initially join their new friends in Opposition before changing its stand and the BJP's partners like the Akali Dal expressing concern over exclusion of Muslims despite supporting the move.

The TRS too sprang a surprise to the BJP by continuing their opposition to the Bill that seeks to grant citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh despite the saffron party's floor managers believing that they have convinced the K Chandrashekar Rao-led party to vote in favour.

The BJP's Bihar ally, the JD(U), announced its support to the Bill as it was cleared by the Cabinet last week but there were murmurs of dissent within the party over the move, which some leaders felt could affect their prospects among Muslim voters. However, Bihar Chief Minister and party chief Nitish Kumar appeared not to embarrass his ally BJP with Assembly elections just 10 months away.

As soon as JD(U) leader Rajiv Ranjan 'Lalan' Singh announced party's support, party National Vice President Prashant Kishor tweeted, "Disappointed to see JDU supporting CAB that discriminates right of citizenship on the basis of religion. It's incongruous with the party's constitution that carries the word secular thrice on the very first page and the leadership that is supposedly guided by Gandhian ideals."

When asked about the change in stand, another visibly upset senior JD(U) leader just said, "the party has diluted the stand". The JD(U) had walked out in Parliament in August when the government revoked special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

The AIADMK, which was opposed to the Bill earlier, was another party that did a somersault by supporting the move. The AIADMK has taken a risk as its arch-rival DMK and other Opposition parties are keen to corner the party, which allied with the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, by demanding that Sri Lankan Tamils also should be brought under the ambit of the Bill, which the government has refused to do so.

Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, a non-NDA party which is perceived to be pro-government, was another party that changed its previous stand to support the Bill but with some conditions. However, they too voted in government's favour despite its MP Bhartruhari Mahtab wrote a dissent note to report of the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Bill earlier. The indications of a BJP-BJD deal came when the saffron party withdrew its candidate against the BJD in the election to the statutory board of the AIIMS in Bhubaneswar.

In indications of the strains in the relationship, the Akali Dal raised the issue of exclusion of Muslims from the ambit of the Bill though it voted in favour of the Bill. Akali Dal's top leader Sukhbir Badal highlighted the issue in his speech in Lok Sabha when he asked "why don't we add Muslims?" and said that his party always believed minorities should be protected and there is a need preserve our secular credentials.

On the other hand, the Shiv Sena, which joined the Opposition ranks in recent times, stuck to its stand on supporting the Bill and voted in favour in the Lok Sabha, creating heartburns in the Congress and the NCP, with which it shares power in Maharashtra. The Congress and the NCP did attempt to change Sena's mind but the party could not change its stand as it had voted in favour in January too.

However on Tuesday morning, Sena chief and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that his party will oppose the Bill in Rajya Sabha if their concerns are not addressed.

While it explained it stand saying it was "in the interest of the nation", an editorial that appeared in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' was scathing in its attack. "There is no dearth of problems in India now but still we are inviting new ones such as CAB. It looks like the Centre has made an invisible partition of Hindus and Muslims over the Bill."

Sources said the TRS chose to continue its opposition despite the BJP reaching out to it on the Bill due to the considerable Muslim population in the state, which had supported the party. Also, with the BJP emerging as a challenger in Telangana, sources said, the TRS wanted to assert its position.

Earlier, during the Winter Session, the TRS had signed a joint notice of Opposition parties seeking a discussion on the state of the economy in the Rajya Sabha.