NEW DELHI: Amid disquiet in political circles and widespread protest in the North East, the BJP-led NDA government hopes to get the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday even though it does not have the numbers on its own.
The CAB was cleared by the Lok Sabha after a marathon debate on Tuesday just past Monday midnight and will be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, official sources said.
It is an irony that members from eight Northeastern states are sharply divided even though the controversial bill will have the maximum impact in the region with its long border with Bangladesh and homogenous population on either side.
Barring Assam, the rest of the Northeastern states have only one MP each in Rajya Sabha. While BJP and Congress
MPs in the Upper House from the region are expected to vote on party lines, NDA allies are also likely to vote in favour of the bill.
In the Lok Sabha too, the MPs from North East remained divided on the bill. Assam Congress MPs and Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF, and Indra Hang Subba of Sikkim Krantikari Morcha opposed the bill while members from other states, including Manipur and Meghalaya, supported it.
Congress has already said exemptions made in the bill for ILP and Sixth Schedule areas are mere cosmetic measures. The bill is creating a division between tribal and non-tribal people and has been brought purely for political and religious mileage, it added.
With a strength of 240, the majority mark in the Upper House is 121. The NDA has 116 members and expects the support of 14 others, taking its number to 130.
The 14 include three members of the Shiv Sena, a former BJP ally that voted in favour of the bill in the Lok Sabha but which has said its support in the Rajya Sabha is not certain, and seven members of Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has 64 members and expects 46 others drawn from the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Communist Party of India (Marxist), to oppose the bill, taking its tally to 110.
Lone Rajya Sabha MP from Meghalaya Wansuk Syiem said that she and her party will oppose the bill tooth and nail when it comes to voting. Congress has already issued a whip to its MPs to remain present and vote against the bill.
