New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday said it welcomed the Shiv Sena’s decision to reconsider its stand on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha after voting in favour in the Lok Sabha, and stated that as an alliance partner, it could not ask the Maharashtra party to alter its position on the issue.
Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena president and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said he would not back the Bill in the Rajya Sabha till there was clarity on questions raised by his party in the Lok Sabha.
“We are cognisant of the fact that ideologically we are different and we respect that diversity. Therefore, the alliance in Maharashtra is premised on a specific situation. 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 real politics.
“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 Tiwari said.
He also said that not only the Congress, but all the nationalistic forces in the country will support the Shiv Sena. Thackeray speaking to reporters in the state said that a detailed discussion and debate on the Bill was necessary.
The Modi government needs to worry about the economy, job crisis and rising cost of living, especially onion price rise, more than the implementation of the Bill, he said. “We need to change this notion that one who supports the Bill and the BJP is a patriot and one who opposes it is anti-national. The government should answer all the issues raised on the Bill,” he said.
The Sena has suggested changes it wants to be included in the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, he said. “Where will these refugees stay…in which state. All this should be clarified,” he added. “We raised some questions but they were not answered. It is an illusion that only the BJP cares for the country,” Thackeray said.
“We don’t take a stand based on who likes it or not,” he said when asked about his party’s stance on the Bill. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there, was passed in the Lok Sabha a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours. Tewari’s remarks came a day after the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 311 members favouring it and 80 voting against it. The Bill will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha for its nod on Wednesday.
He clarified that while the Congress had no problems with giving shelter to those being discriminated against in the neighbouring countries, but said that the party demands a comprehensive and inclusive refugee law. He also asked the government to come clean on its border policy.
“In a country where the apex court has maintained that secularism forms the basis of our Constitution, in such a country to offer citizenship on the basis of religion is a fraud on the Constitution. This is our basic opposition to the Bill,” he said. (PTI)
