Citizenship (Amendment) Bill expected to be tabled in Lok Sabha on Monday

December 6: The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019, is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The CAB got Union Cabinet’s nod on 4 December, 2019.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is in a minority in the Upper House, but enjoys a huge majority in the Lower House. Chances are ripe for a confrontation between the NDA and the Congress-led Opposition. The NDA will need the support of at least 123 Members of Parliament in the 245-member Rajya Sabha for a smooth passage for the bill. So far, it has the support of 105 MPs.

 BJP is keen to pass the bill, but it has to reach out to its allies and like-minded parties to have a smooth passage in the Rajya Sabha, where the NDA is in a minority.Senior ministers, however, claim that at least 122 MPs in the Upper House support the bill. Thus, both BJP and Congress along with other political parties are busy getting their arithmetic correct before the bill goes to Rajya Sabha.

The citizenship amendment bill aims to provide citizenship to those who were forced to seek shelter in India without valid travel documents because of religious persecution or fear of persecution in their home countries—primarily Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The bill thus amends the 1955 Act to grant exemptions to illegal migrants from these communities, who reached India on or before December 2014.