Congress nudges Maharashtra ally Shiv Sena on CAB

The Congress on Tuesday nudged its newest ally the Shiv Sena to reconsider its stand on the Citizenship Amendment Bill, but at the same time made it clear that it was not insisting that the Bal Thackeray-founded outfit give up on its ideology.

The Shiv Sena, which has 18 members in the Lok Sabha, had voted in favour of the Bill which was passed by the lower house with an overwhelming majority (311-80) after an acrimonious debate on late Monday night.

Ever since the Shiv Sena joined hands with the Congress and the NCP to keep the BJP away from power in Maharashtra, questions had been raised over the stability of the alliance given Sena's history of pursuing the hardline Hindutva ideology.

Political pundits had painted a grim picture over the survival of the alliance, particularly with the fraying of ideological faultlines when the BJP makes an aggressive push for its pet issues such as the CAB, National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Uniform Civil Code.

“To tell them not to stay true to their ideology is not correct. If the Shiv Sena is thinking of changing its stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Rajya Sabha based on the fact that it is against the Constitution and is hurting its basic tenets, then we welcome it,” Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

“I don't think that the Shiv Sena has asked us to give up our ideological position and we do not expect them to do so, and these are the realities of realpolitik,” Tewari said.

The Shiv Sena had sought clarification from the Modi government on the Bill on rehabilitation of the persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who were seeking Indian citizenship.

Shiv Sena Lok Sabha leader Vinayak Raut had also demanded that persons getting Indian citizenship under the CAB should not be given voting rights for 25 years.

“We will not support the Bill till we get clarity on the questions we have raised about the CAB,” Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said in Mumbai.

The CAB is scheduled to come up for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.