Citizenship Amendment Bill to be tabled in RS on Dec 11

The controversial Citizenship (Amendment), which was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday late night, will be tabled in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday with Opposition conceding that it has no numbers to derail the government but insisting that it is gearing to pitch it as a "majority versus morality" question.

Though it may not affect the outcome, the good news for Opposition is that the Shiv Sena with three members will oppose the Bill after voting in favour in Lok Sabha. Opposition parties like the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the CPI(M) will be moving amendments to the Bill.

Government sources said they have the support of 128 MPs in a House of 240 members with five vacancies. The Opposition's count stands at 112, including that of the Sena and six TRS MPs while saying that they believe that the difference of votes would be around 20 with some absentees.

There was speculation that the Bill will be taken up for passage in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday itself. On late Monday, the Lok Sabha passed the controversial Bill seeking to grant citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before 31 December, 2014. The Bill has excluded the states under the Inner Line Permit regime and areas under Sixth Schedule in the Northeast out of its ambit.

The Opposition parties led by the Congress will continue their attack on the government over the Bill, which it says goes against the basic structure of the Constitution by granting citizenship on religious lines.

"We will oppose the Bill. The whole Opposition is united against this anti-Constitution Bill. It is not about numbers. Tomorrow, the fight is majority versus minority," Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien said. The Trinamool Congress will be moving 20 amendments -- 19 by O'Brien and one by Sukhendu Sekhar Ray -- to the Bill, which the party said if accepted, would change the character of the Bill.

CPI(M)'s Elamaram Kareem too has given a notice to send the Bill to the Select Committee besides submitting amendments demanding the removal of reference to religions and inserting a provision to cover all neighbouring countries instead of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The Opposition will highlight that the Bill is "high on negativity", sets multiple standards for citizenship in a single country and hyphenate Citizenship Amendment Bill with the National Citizens Register (NRC), among others.

There were reports that NDA ally Asom Gana Parishad's lone Rajya Sabha MP Birendra Prasad Baishya is upset with his party for extending support for the Bill and could defy the directions. When asked, Baishya told DH that he will “vote the way his party asks” but did not offer any clarification on whether he has already received any instructions.

The BJP is expected to get the support of its allies -- the AIADMK, JD(U), the LJP, PMK, RPI(A), Akali Dal besides non-NDA parties like the BJD and the YSR Congress.

The Opposition side has MPs from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP, CPI, CPI(M), NCP, DMK, PDP, All-India Muslim League and PDP besides the Shiv Sena to oppose the Bill.