NEW DELHI: The Congress-led opposition is eager to make a match of the BJP governments bid to pass the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in Parliament, optimistic that key saffron allies may break ranks over the controversial legislation.
The Centres success in ensuring the passage of bills on triple talaq and Kashmir have brought home the fact that Rajya Sabha has tilted towards BJP after five years of struggle. But on the CAB, the opposition is hoping that its controversial nature may hold out a lifeline. It is believed that BJPs allies from Bihar, Tamil Nadu and north-east will have reservations on the legislation, which the government has said will be followed by a pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC).
“NRC is not acceptable in Bihar and Tamil Nadu, and has political repercussions. We are still to reach out to any party but we believe we can put up a strong fight,” a Congress strategist said. While the CAB will facilitate citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from neighbouring countries, a national NRC will launch an exercise to weed out illegal immigrants and strip them of citizenship. The NRC was launched in Assam to identify Bangladeshi settlers but has been rejected by BJP after a large number of Hindus were excluded.
The north-east region is up in arms against CAB because locals feel citizenship for settlers would endanger the demographic of largely tribal states. The Centre is engaged with north-east to find a compromise, with offers of exempting certain tribal areas and eRead More – Source
