From CK Nayak
NEW DELHI: The Centre appears determined to push for passage of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in the Rajya Sabha next week despite stiff opposition to it across the North East, including from the ruling BJP and its close allies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meanwhile, will visit the volatile region beginning Friday.
Sources in the BJP said the party has decided to ignore protests against the CAB in Assam, Manipur, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh where it is in power, and two states — Meghalaya and Nagaland — where it is in alliance. The party is not in government in Mizoram. Some of the alliance partners like National People’s Party (NPP) in Meghalaya and Mizo National Front of Mizoram (NDA ally at the Centre) have even hinted at snapping ties with the BJP in case the bill is made into a law.
The Lok Sabha, where the BJP has majority, has already passed the bill evoking a surge of protest in the North East that has since refused to abate. Once passed in the Rajya Sabha, the bill will require the President’s assent to become law.
The party leadership views the opposition to the bill a psychointellectual reaction fueled by a hostile media. Hence, it has decided to bring the bill in Rajya Sabha on February 12, the penultimate day of the ongoing Budget session, and before announcement of elections to Parliament.
The Prime Minister has lined up the trip to the North East as the escalating unrest over the bill clouds the BJP’s prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Modi will visit Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura beginning Friday. He will hold discussions with BJP leaders in charge of the seven states and other party seniors to devise strategies for the polls, the sources added.
After giving a popular budget in Assam, the party plans to organise a massive show of strength during the Prime Minister’s visit which shall be used to sidestep the opposition.
The NDA government firmed up plans to bring the bill in the Rajya Sabha after it opened negotiations with a few major opposition and neutral parties seeking support by way of abstaining from voting to pass the bill, the sources said.
These parties are likely to abstain from voting making it easier for the ruling party to pass the bill despite strong protest from Congress and others. The NDA floor managers have also so far managed to woo several smaller regional parties and are confident enough to ensure the bill sails through.
For the CAB, at this moment the BJP feels that it will have an edge over the opposition in the Upper House with its deft floor management. But considering that its major allies like Shiv Sena and JD(U) are opposing the CAB, the situation remains touch-and-go.
Meghalaya Chief Minister and NPP national president Conrad Sangma told newsmen in Shillong recently that his party would decide at an “appropriate time” on whether to snap ties with the NDA government over the controversial bill. “We will decide at an appropriate time, if the (Central) government goes ahead with the bill in the Rajya Sabha,” Sangma had said responding to questions on the demand of several groups to sever ties with the BJP over the bill.
The NPP is supporting the BJP-led government in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, while the BJP is supporting the NPP-led Meghalaya government and regional parties in other states.
The Asom Gana Parishad has already snapped its ties with BJP and left the government. Conrad and AGP leaders also failed to meet the Prime Minister during their last visit to the national capital for which they were taunted by opposition Congress leaders back in their respective states.
Incidentally, the Business Advisory Committee meeting, chaired by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, who is Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, had earlier decided to discuss and debate only six bills on which there was consensus between the government and Opposition. On Monday, Naidu is likely to convene another meeting to discuss controversial Bills, like the CAB.
Informatively, the last NDA meeting on Thursday, which was chaired by Modi, was a stormy affair with Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena expressing their opposition to the CAB. The NDA allies urged the Centre not to bring the CAB.
Last Friday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had held a meeting with the TMC MPs and sought their support in passing the CAB in the Rajya Sabha, but the party has refused to support the bill and conveyed that they will vote against it. There are many MPs even within the BJP who also do not want such a bill to be brought in the upper House, but the party top brass seems to be hell bent on it.
Wansuk, Pala firm
NPP Rajya Sabha MP from Meghalaya Wansuk Syiem on Thursday said her party would oppose the bill tooth and nail when it comes in Rajya Sabha. On Wednesday most of the non-BJP MPs from North East held a noisy protest against the bill in Parliament complex.
“CAB will affect Meghalaya most,” Wansuk said. “The hill state has wide open border and its indigenous Khasi, Jaintia and Garo tribes will face the brunt of influx,” she added.
Congress Lok Sabha MP from Shillong Vincent H Pala also vent his anger over the CAB. “BJP used its brute majority to steamroll the highly controversial bill in Lok Sabha,” he said.