Akhilesh Yadav: Samajwadi Party will oppose Citizenship Amendment Bill at all costs

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday opposed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and said his party will never support the bill. "We are against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and the party will oppose it at all costs," he told reporters. Party MP Azamgarh also backed his party stand saying that CAB is an "insult" to the country. 

When enquired what is the take of Samajwadi Party on the bill, the MP from Azamgarh replied to the mediasaying "Neither has the farmers' income doubled nor has the Ganga River been cleaned. Neither there is an improvement in the economy, nor black money has come back, and the government has not even been able to save the country's daughters. As I said earlier their politics is to divert attention and divide the society."

"Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is an insult to India and Samajwadi party will oppose the bill," he added. 

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What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill?

First introduced in the Lok Sabha in July 2016, the bill was finally passed by the Lok Sabha in January 2019. Protests, which first sprung in 2016, have already reportedly sprung around Assam this week led by the All Assam Students' Union (AASU), which has stated that the bill will not be accepted by people. Massive faceoff is expected over the Bill in the Rajya Sabha where the BJP does not hold an absolute majority.

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• The Bill amends the Citizenship Act 1955 to make refugees who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship, as explained by PRS.
• It also relaxes the terms of naturalized citizenship, from the original 14 years to six years. Anyone belonging to the above-mentioned six religions and three countries can apply for citizenship after residing in India for the stipulated six years.
• In the new draft of the Bill, Shah who met with the several Chief Ministers and politicians from the northeastern state politicians from November 29, has offered to exempt the inner line permit areas in Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh and areas falling under the Sixth Schedule in the region from the Bill. 

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(With ANI inputs)