Digvijaya Singh calls out Nitish Kumar before CAB gets tabled in Rajya Sabha

As the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 is set to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has said that it would be interesting to see how parties who claim to oppose "BJP/RSS ideology" vote. Digvijaya Singh has also called out Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan to reconsider their support to the CAB. He said, "Nitish Ji, Ram Vilas Ji, if you consider Ram Manohar Lohia Ji as your ideal, then think. Now is the time." 

Backing of at least 121 MPs needed in RS

Digvijaya Singh's appeal comes at a time when the BJP-led NDA government does not have the numbers in its favour to pass the bill unlike in the Lok Sabha where it was passed with a thumping majority. The BJP-led NDA government would need the backing of at least 121 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, to seek a majority for the passage of the Bill. The BJP has 83 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Its allies including Nitish Kumar's JD(U) has 6, Akali Dal (SAD) has 3 MPs and RPI(A) has 1 in the House. However, in the process, a division of opinion over the Bill was witnessed within the JD(U), with Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Varma and Prashant Kishor contending the 'discriminatory' Bill. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) has 64 members and expects 46 others, like the Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Communist Party of India (Marxist), to oppose the bill, taking its total to 110.

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Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

After the conclusion of a 12-hour-long debate, which saw the participation of 38 MPs from across the political spectrum, the Lok Sabha on Monday midnight passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 with 311 votes in favour and 80 against the Bill. Opposition leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Saugata Roy, N K Premchandran, Gaurav Gogoi, Shashi Tharoor, and Assaduddin Owaisi opposed the introduction of the bill in the Lok Sabha, which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there, saying it was violative of various provisions of the Constitution, including move to grant citizenship on the basis of religion.

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