Union Minister Pralhad Joshi: CAB will pass in both Houses of the Parliament

BJP leader Pralhad Joshi said that the party is confident of passing the Citizenship Amendment Bill in both the Houses of Parliament. He also said that the Bill is in the interest of the Nation. The Bill has been introduced in the Parliament by Home Minister Amit Shah.

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Confident of passing the Bill

Shah, who is also the President of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) issued a whip to all MPs of the BJP to be present in the Parliament. The letter reads, "All BJP members in Lok Sabha are hereby informed that some very important Legislative Business will be taken up for discussion and passing in the Lok Sabha from Monday, the 9th December 2019 to Wednesday, the 11th December 2019. All members of the BJP in Lok Sabha are, therefore, requested to be positively present in the House and support the government." 

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The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

The Bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship. Under the Act, one of the requirements for citizenship by naturalisation is that the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, and for 11 of the previous 14 years.  The Bill relaxes this 11-year requirement to six years for persons belonging to the same six religions and three countries. 

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday submitted a notice in the Lok Sabha to oppose the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill at the introduction stage on the grounds that it "violates" the fundamental right to equality. Tharoor submitted the notice this morning under Rule 72 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha. In the notice, Tharoor said that the Bill infringes upon the principle of "equality before law" and the "equal protection of laws" guaranteed to all persons, including non-citizens. 

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(with ANI inputs)