Shiv Sena votes in favour of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which had left the NDA recently to form government in Maharashtra, has voted in favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday. During the debate on the bill, the party had argued that refugees getting citizenship under the CAB should not be granted voting rights for 25 years. It said since the CAB has left out north-eastern states, the government should spell out in which states would the refugees getting citizenship be settled.
Shiv Sena's Vinayak Raut spoke in favour of the bill, however, he said the burden of accepting refugees would have to be calculated.
The Lok Sabha witnessed the voting procedure for the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.
Parties that voted in support of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
Biju Janata Dal (BJD), YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), Janata Dal (United), Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal), Shiv Sena, Lok Janshakti Party, Agatha Sangma of Meghalaya’s National People’s Party, BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance like NPF, NDPP, MNF etc. supported the Bill.
Parties that voted against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
The Congress, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Assam-based All India United Democratic Front, Nationalist Congress Party, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Bahujan Samaj Party, Aam Aadmi Party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, Communist Party of India (Marxist) opposed the Bill.
The BJP is confident of the passage of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha which will be introduced in the upper house on Wednesday, sources said on Tuesday.
The bill piloted by Union Home Minister Amit Shah was comfortably passed in the Lok Sabha on late Monday night as the ruling BJP enjoys a clear majority in the house.
Sources in the party said that the legislation will also sail through the Rajya Sabha as the ruling NDA has the numbers.
As per the calculations of the BJP's floor managers, the effective strength of the Rajya Sabha is 238. The NDA's current strength is 105 in the House, including 83 members of the BJP, six of Janata Dal (U), three of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), one each from LJP and RPI(A) and 11 nominated MPs.
The BJP is in talks with AIADMK which has 11 members, the BJD with seven members, YSRCP with two members and TDP with two members. The saffron party is confident of their support as all these parties had backed the bill in Lok Sabha.
With the support of these 22 members, the BJP-led NDA will have the support of 127 members in the House which is above the majority mark of 120.
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