SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Tuesday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is a matter of discussion and dialogue and the NPP would strive to ensure that the interest of the state in particular and the North East in general is protected.
The CAB has returned to public consciousness with the BJP set to assume power at the Centre.
“We will discuss the matter with the new government so that our issues and those of the stakeholders are taken into consideration,” Sangma said.
Pointed out that there has been a demand to omit the North East from the purview of the bill, the chief minister said the matter would be taken up with the Centre at the appropriate time. The last Lok Sabha had passed the contentious bill that had evoked widespread protests in the North East, but the BJP-led NDA government did not press with it in the Rajya Sabha with numbers not on its side in the upper House. The bill lapsed after the 16th Lok Sabha was dissolved recently. The BJP in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections had, however, promised to bring it back if it were to return to power.
