Delhi: Congress to hold meeting to plan strategy over Citizenship Amendment Bill

As the Central government is expected to table the Citizenship Ammendment Bill in the Parliament next week, Congress is planning to chalk out a strategy on the same. Several senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Anand Sharma Kapil Sibal, and Manish Tewari will hold a meeting on the issue in Delhi on Saturday. 

Previously, Congress party had opposed the Bill, and its senior leaders had said that it will strongly affect the North-Eastern states. Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi had sent a group of senior leaders to North-East states who later submitted a report to her. Post that, another committee was formed to take a final call on the party's decision, as there are some leaders, especially from Assam who support the bill, and think that it must be analyzed. 

READ | Assam BJP MLA hails Citizenship Amendment Bill, says PM Modi 'has kept his promise'

A source belonging to the party told the media that they will also talk to the parties and allies who share similar thoughts, as Shiv Sena had earlier announced support to the Bill. In the last week of the Winter Session of Parliament, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, and the Personal Data Protection Bill are among the nine bills, which are expected to be tabled in the Lok Sabha. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, is listed for introduction and passage in the House on Monday. The Winter Session will end on December 13.

READ | Lok Sabha:9 Bills On The Agenda, Citizenship Amendment Bill To Be Addressed Up On Dec 9

The International Financial Services Centres Authority Bill, 2019 and Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019 were on the agenda of Lok Sabha on Friday but could not be taken up. They are expected to be taken up next week. The House also held a discussion on issues concerning farmers and the reply to the debate is expected on Monday.

Union Cabinet clears CAB

The Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has cleared the bill and sources said that the Prime Minister is looking forward to its passage by both the Houses of Parliament next week. Earlier, speaking at the Republic Summit, Home Minister Amit Shah said that the government is committed to pass and implement the CAB. The Citizenship Bill seeks to grant citizenship to all non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan if they faced religious persecution in these neighboring countries.

READ | Congress Leaders Protests Lok Sabha Adjournment For The Day, Target BJP

READ | Smriti Irani attacks the opposition in Lok Sabha, says 'stop politicizing women's issues'

(With agency inputs)