GUWAHATI: Assam BJP president Ranjit Dass has termed the Meghalaya Cabinet’s decision to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, as a “mistake”.
The Meghalaya Cabinet had unanimously said “no” to the proposed legislation ahead of the two-day visit of the joint parliamentary committee delegation to Shillong earlier this month.
“The Meghalaya Cabinet has made a mistake by taking a decision to oppose the Bill. The JPC had gone to Meghalaya to take the views and opinions of citizens, NGOs and organisations. It did not ask the Meghalaya government’s stand on it,” Dass told reporters on the sidelines of an interactive meeting between prominent citizens representing various fields and the state government here on Monday.
“Apparently, there was no letter communicated by the JPC to the Meghalaya government in this regard. So I do not see any reason why it had to take a decision,” he said.
Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had attended the meeting along with Dass to take opinions and views of the civil society on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.
“The Assam government is capable enough to take a decision on the proposed legislation. But for that, we have sought time till June 30 when the final draft of the National Register of Citizens is published. Only after that can the state government make its stand clear on the Bill,” the state BJP president said, when asked why Assam could not follow Meghalaya in making their stand clear on the Bill.
Apparently, there has been a rift in the Assam BJP with MLA Atul Bora writing a letter to chief minister Sonowal to take a stand on the Bill earlier this month. AGP, an ally in the Assam government, has aired its opposition against the Bill, urging the Centre not to proceed with the proposed legislation.
In Meghalaya, BJP minister AL Hek had opposed the Bill as well. The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance has two BJP MLAs, including Hek, who is a Cabinet minister.
Recently, Hek had said if the bill was allowed, then “we will be opening a floodgate which will change the demography of small state like Meghalaya”. He had also said the decision should not be based on religion.
